Search results for "STEPPE"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Restricted geographic distribution and low genetic distinctiveness of steppic Crioceris quinquepunctata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) populations in Ce…
2019
Crioceris quinquepunctata is a European leafbeetle, rare and strictly associated with steppe-like habitats in Central and Eastern Europe. We sampled suitable localities in Central East Europe to determine the current distribution and to verify whether populations isolated by the Carpathian Mountains (within Pannonian and Pontic area) show genetic differentiation. Sequences from the beetle COI and ITSl were amplified and compared. Furthermore, ftsZ and hcpA genes of the endosymbiont Wolbachia were analysed as additional genetic markers. We found only two populations of C. quinquepunctata (in Moravia and Podolian Upland). Unusually low genetic differences between these populations were reveal…
Festuca valesiacaSchleich. ex Gaudin newly discovered in the Central Apennines (Italy): a further example of steppe relict in the Abruzzo “dry valley…
2019
Festuca valesiaca Schleich. ex Gaudin subsp. valesiaca is acknowledged as one of the most characteristic grasses of the continental grasslands and steppes of Eurasia. In Italy, the species was known almost only from the continental valleys of the Alpine chain (with the exception of two small populations at the northernmost edge of the Apennines). Here, we report on the first confirmed finding of F. valesiaca subsp. valesiaca in the surroundings of the Fucino Basin, Central Apennines. This finding expands by c. 400 km southwards the species’ range in Italy. The identity of the species was first ascertained by means of leaf cross-sections and stomata measurements, and then confirmed by chromo…
The genetic prehistory of the Baltic Sea region
2018
Correction: Nature communications 9 (2018), art. no. 1494 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03872-y While the series of events that shaped the transition between foraging societies and food producers are well described for Central and Southern Europe, genetic evidence from Northern Europe surrounding the Baltic Sea is still sparse. Here, we report genome-wide DNA data from 38 ancient North Europeans ranging from similar to 9500 to 2200 years before present. Our analysis provides genetic evidence that hunter-gatherers settled Scandinavia via two routes. We reveal that the first Scandinavian farmers derive their ancestry from Anatolia 1000 years earlier than previously demonstrated. The range of Mesolit…
Early cave art and ancient DNA record the origin of European bison
2016
The two living species of bison (European and American) are among the few terrestrial megafauna to have survived the late Pleistocene extinctions. Despite the extensive bovid fossil record in Eurasia, the evolutionary history of the European bison (or wisent, Bison bonasus) before the Holocene (<11.7 thousand years ago (kya)) remains a mystery. We use complete ancient mitochondrial genomes and genome-wide nuclear DNA surveys to reveal that the wisent is the product of hybridization between the extinct steppe bison (Bison priscus) and ancestors of modern cattle (aurochs, Bos primigenius) before 120 kya, and contains up to 10% aurochs genomic ancestry. Although undetected within the fossil re…
The population genomics of archaeological transition in west Iberia: Investigation of ancient substructure using imputation and haplotype-based metho…
2017
We analyse new genomic data (0.05–2.95x) from 14 ancient individuals from Portugal distributed from the Middle Neolithic (4200–3500 BC) to the Middle Bronze Age (1740–1430 BC) and impute genomewide diploid genotypes in these together with published ancient Eurasians. While discontinuity is evident in the transition to agriculture across the region, sensitive haplotype-based analyses suggest a significant degree of local hunter-gatherer contribution to later Iberian Neolithic populations. A more subtle genetic influx is also apparent in the Bronze Age, detectable from analyses including haplotype sharing with both ancient and modern genomes, D-statistics and Y-chromosome lineages. However, t…
The genomic history of Southern Europe
2018
Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7th millennium BCE - brought by migrants from Anatolia who settled in the region before spreading throughout Europe. However, the dynamics of the interaction between the first farmers and the indigenous hunter-gatherers remain poorly understood because of the near absence of ancient DNA from the region. We report new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 204 individuals-65 Paleolithic and Mesolithic, 93 Neolithic, and 46 Copper, Bronze and Iron Age-who lived in southeastern Europe and surrounding regions between about 12,000 and 500 BCE. We document that the hunter-gatherer populations of southeastern Europe, the Baltic, and the Nor…
The spread of steppe and Iranian-related ancestry in the islands of the western Mediterranean
2020
Steppe-pastoralist-related ancestry reached Central Europe by at least 2500 bc, whereas Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 bc. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean, where they have contributed to many populations that live today, remains poorly understood. Here, we generated genome-wide ancient-DNA data from the Balearic Islands, Sicily and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from 5 to 66. The oldest individual from the Balearic Islands (~2400 bc) carried ancestry from steppe pastoralists that probably derived from west-to-east migration from Iberia, although two later Balearic individ…
The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not Driven by Admixture with Early European Farmers
2017
Summary The Neolithic transition was a dynamic time in European prehistory of cultural, social, and technological change. Although this period has been well explored in central Europe using ancient nuclear DNA [1, 2], its genetic impact on northern and eastern parts of this continent has not been as extensively studied. To broaden our understanding of the Neolithic transition across Europe, we analyzed eight ancient genomes: six samples (four to ∼1- to 4-fold coverage) from a 3,500 year temporal transect (∼8,300–4,800 calibrated years before present) through the Baltic region dating from the Mesolithic to the Late Neolithic and two samples spanning the Mesolithic-Neolithic boundary from the…
The Genetic History of Northern Europe
2017
Recent ancient DNA studies have revealed that the genetic history of modern Europeans was shaped by a series of migration and admixture events between deeply diverged groups. While these events are well described in Central and Southern Europe, genetic evidence from Northern Europe surrounding the Baltic Sea is still sparse. Here we report genome-wide DNA data from 24 ancient North Europeans ranging from ~7,500 to 200 calBCE spanning the transition from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural lifestyle, as well as the adoption of bronze metallurgy. We show that Scandinavia was settled after the retreat of the glacial ice sheets from a southern and a northern route, and that the first Scandinav…
Low Prevalence of Lactase Persistence in Bronze Age Europe Indicates Ongoing Strong Selection over the Last 3,000 Years
2020
Lactase persistence (LP), the continued expression of lactase into adulthood, is the most strongly selected single gene trait over the last 10,000 years inmultiple human populations. It has been posited that the primary allele causing LP among Eurasians, rs4988235-A [1], only rose to appreciable frequencies during the Bronze and Iron Ages [2, 3], long after humans started consuming milk from domesticated animals. This rapid rise has been attributed to an influx of people from the Pontic-Caspian steppe that began around 5,000 years ago [4, 5]. We investigate the spatiotemporal spread of LP through an analysis of 14 warriors from the Tollense Bronze Age battlefield in northern Germany ( 3,20…