via American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 08 February 2021: A genetics paper exploring the lineages of the Han, Tai-Kadai and Austronesian populations.
Objectives
The aim of this research was to explore the origin, diversification, and demographic history of O1a‐M119 over the past 10,000 years, as well as its role during the formation of East Asian and Southeast Asian populations, particularly the Han, Tai‐Kadai‐speaking, and Austronesian‐speaking populations.Materials and Methods
Y‐chromosome sequences (n = 141) of the O1a‐M119 lineage, including 17 newly generated in this study, were used to reconstruct a revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates, and identify sub‐lineages. The geographic distribution of 12 O1a‐M119 sub‐lineages was summarized, based on 7325 O1a‐M119 individuals identified among 60,009 Chinese males.Results
A revised phylogenetic tree, age estimation, and distribution maps indicated continuous expansion of haplogroup O1a‐M119 over the past 10,000 years, and differences in demographic history across geographic regions. We propose several sub‐lineages of O1a‐M119 as founding paternal lineages of Han, Tai‐Kadai‐speaking, and Austronesian‐speaking populations. The sharing of several young O1a‐M119 sub‐lineages with expansion times less than 6000 years between these three population groups supports a partial common ancestry for them in the Neolithic Age; however, the paternal genetic divergence pattern is much more complex than previous hypotheses based on ethnology, archeology, and linguistics.Discussion
Our analyses contribute to a better understanding of the demographic history of O1a‐M119 sub‐lineages over the past 10,000 years during the emergence of Han, Austronesians, Tai‐Kadai‐speaking populations. The data described in this study will assist in understanding of the history of Han, Tai‐Kadai‐speaking, and Austronesian‐speaking populations from ethnology, archeology, and linguistic perspectives in the future.
