Human phylogeography and diversity

Abstract

Homo sapiens phylogeography begins with the species’ origin nearly 200 kya in Africa. First signs of the species outside Africa (in Arabia) are from 125 kya. Earliest dates elsewhere are now 100 kya in China, 45 kya in Australia and southern Europe (maybe even 60 kya in Australia), 32 kya in northeast Siberia, and maybe 20 kya in the Americas. Humans reached arctic regions and oceanic islands last—arctic North America about 5 kya, mid- and eastern Pacific islands about 2–1 kya, and New Zealand about 700 y ago. Initial routes along coasts seem the most likely given abundant and easily harvested shellfish there as indicated by huge ancient oyster shell middens on all continents. Nevertheless, the effect of geographic barriers—mountains and oceans—is clear. The phylogeographic pattern of diasporas from several single origins—northeast Africa to Eurasia, southeast Eurasia to Australia, and northeast Siberia to the Americas—allows the equivalent of a repeat experiment on the relation between geography and phylogenetic and cultural diversity. On all continents, cultural diversity is high in productive low latitudes, presumably because such regions can support populations of sustainable size in a small area, therefore allowing a high density of cultures. Of course, other factors operate. South America has an unusually low density of cultures in its tropical latitudes. A likely factor is the phylogeographic movement of peoples from the Old World bringing novel and hence, lethal diseases to the New World, a foretaste, perhaps, of present day global transport of tropical diseases.