Comments on: Climate Shaped the Worldwide Distribution of Human Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation – Proc. R. Soc. B http://anthropology.net/2009/08/26/climate-shaped-the-worldwide-distribution-of-human-mitochondrial-dna-sequence-variation-proc-r-soc-b/ Beyond bones & stones Wed, 30 May 2012 15:52:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: What Is Important Of Dna In Carrying Genetic Information http://anthropology.net/2009/08/26/climate-shaped-the-worldwide-distribution-of-human-mitochondrial-dna-sequence-variation-proc-r-soc-b/#comment-14777 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:20:55 +0000 http://anthropology.net/?p=2407#comment-14777 [...] Worldwide Distribution of Human Mitochondrial DNA Using a geographical framework, we perform the first direct test of the relative extent to which climate and past demography have shaped the current spatial distribution of mtDNA sequences worldwide.  [...]

]]> By: Luis http://anthropology.net/2009/08/26/climate-shaped-the-worldwide-distribution-of-human-mitochondrial-dna-sequence-variation-proc-r-soc-b/#comment-14647 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:24:19 +0000 http://anthropology.net/?p=2407#comment-14647 I think I have discussed this paper elsewhere (Mathilda’s?) and what really strikes me as unconvincing is fig. 4: Oceanian populations have about the same tropical temperatures but widely diverging rates for the derived alleles, instead Europeans have very divergent temperatures and about the same amount (100%) of derived alleles. Most Europeans are in the same temperature range as most Asians but have much higher rates of derived alleles.

A good study could have been done maybe using Native Americans, as these have been in the continent for only some 20,000 years now and range between all temperatures. But the few NAs sampled vary wildly, offering only a very very weak confirmation of the hypothesis, with most of them having intermediate, Asian-like, derived alleles, in spite of being sampled mostly in cold and hot latitudes (few in temperate ones).

Also the “correcting for distance to Africa” sounds like making no sense because Europe and West Asia are just by Africa but were only colonized at a late phase. Instead Australia or China are far away and were colonized early on.

A risk here is to confuse what is the pattern of human spread, colonizing first Tropical and Subtropical Asia/Australasia, and only later the cold lands of the North with a thermobiological evolutionary pattern.

Still, they could be onto something but seems like it needs further testing.

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