Archaic human admixture: A view from the genome

作者：Garrigan Daniel^*; Kingan Sarah B

来源：Current Anthropology, 2007, 48(6): 895-902.

DOI：10.1086/523014

The long-standing debate over admixture between the anatomically modern human population and archaic forms of Homo has recently resurfaced, fueled by new evolutionary studies of the nuclear genome. Several genetic studies arrive at conflicting conclusions regarding the tempo at which reproductive barriers between primate species evolve, but new studies are uncovering indirect genetic evidence that refutes the existence of such barriers among hominins. An ambitious project of sequencing the Neanderthal genome promises to provide a detailed but not necessarily conclusive perspective on the admixture problem. Working under the assumption that members of the genus Homo could produce viable hybrid offspring, several new models have emerged detailing how archaic populations may have become extinct while still leaving behind their genetic footprints in the modern human genome. One intriguing hypothesis is that the expanding anatomically modern human population acquired locally adapted genetic variants from endemic archaic populations. A gene involved in neural development appears to fit this scenario of adaptive hybridization and has important implications for the way we think about modern human origins.

• 出版日期2007-12