On the genetic uniqueness of the Ami aborigines of Formosa Article

Sewerin, B, Cuza, FJ, Szmulewicz, MN et al. (2002). On the genetic uniqueness of the Ami aborigines of Formosa . AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 119(3), 240-248. 10.1002/ajpa.10127

cited authors

  • Sewerin, B; Cuza, FJ; Szmulewicz, MN; Rowold, DJ; Bertrand-Garcia, RL; Herrera, RJ

authors

abstract

  • In the attempt to reconstruct the prehistory of Pacific and Indian Ocean populations, Taiwan's aborigines appear to be of particular interest. Linguistic and archeological evidence indicates that the dispersal of Austronesian speakers throughout the islands of Oceania and Southeast Asia may have originated from Taiwan about 5,000 years ago. The Ami are Taiwan's largest aboriginal group. Here, we report on six polymorphic point mutation loci in Ami individuals and compare allelic frequencies to worldwide populations. In order to examine the genetic characteristics and relationships of the Ami aborigines, we used the allelic frequency data to generate expected heterozygosities, power of discrimination values, maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees, principal component maps, and centroid gene flow plots. These analyses argue for the genetic isolation and uniqueness of the Ami people. Data supportive of limited gene flow and/or small population size, as well as genetic similarities to Native Americans, were observed. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

publication date

  • November 1, 2002

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 240

end page

  • 248

volume

  • 119

issue

  • 3