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1 January 2017 Leveraging Multiple Populations across Time Helps Define Accurate Models of Human Evolution: A Reanalysis of the Lactase Persistence Adaptation
Chenling Xu Antelope, Davide Marnetto, Fergal Casey, Emilia Huerta-Sanchez
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Abstract

Access to a geographically diverse set of modern human samples from the present time and from ancient remains, combined with archaic hominin samples, provides an unprecedented level of resolution to study both human history and adaptation. The amount and quality of ancient human data continue to improve and enable tracking the trajectory of genetic variation over time. These data have the potential to help us redefine or generate new hypotheses of how human evolution occurred and to revise previous conjectures. In this article, we argue that leveraging all these data will help us better detail adaptive histories in humans. As a case in point, we focus on one of the most celebrated examples of human adaptation: the evolution of lactase persistence. We briefly review this dietary adaptation and argue that, effectively, the evolutionary history of lactase persistence is still not fully resolved. We propose that, by leveraging data from multiple populations across time and space, we will find evidence of a more nuanced history than just a simple selective sweep. We support our hypotheses with simulation results and make some cautionary notes regarding the use of haplotype-based summary statistics to estimate evolutionary parameters.

© 2018 Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201
Chenling Xu Antelope, Davide Marnetto, Fergal Casey, and Emilia Huerta-Sanchez "Leveraging Multiple Populations across Time Helps Define Accurate Models of Human Evolution: A Reanalysis of the Lactase Persistence Adaptation," Human Biology 89(1), 81-97, (1 January 2017). https://doi.org/10.13110/humanbiology.89.1.05
Received: 24 February 2017; Accepted: 1 September 2017; Published: 1 January 2017
KEYWORDS
Adaptation
ancient DNA
Positive selection
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