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Latin Americans show wide-spread Converso ancestry and imprint of local Native ancestry on physical appearance

  • Juan Camilo Chacón-Duque
  • , Kaustubh Adhikari
  • , Macarena Fuentes-Guajardo
  • , Javier Mendoza-Revilla
  • , Victor Acuña-Alonzo
  • , Rodrigo Barquera
  • , Mirsha Quinto-Sánchez
  • , Jorge Gómez-Valdés
  • , Paola Everardo Martínez
  • , Hugo Villamil-Ramírez
  • , Tábita Hünemeier
  • , Virginia Ramallo
  • , Caio C. Silva de Cerqueira
  • , Malena Hurtado
  • , Valeria Villegas
  • , Vanessa Granja
  • , Mercedes Villena
  • , René Vásquez
  • , Elena Llop
  • , José R. Sandoval
  • Alberto A. Salazar-Granara, Maria Laura Parolin, Karla Sandoval, Rosenda I. Peñaloza-Espinosa, Hector Rangel-Villalobos, Cheryl A. Winkler, William Klitz, Claudio Bravi, Julio Molina, Daniel Corach, Ramiro Barrantes, Verónica Gomes, Carlos Resende, Leonor Gusmão, Antonio Amorim, Yali Xue, Jean Michel Dugoujon, Pedro Moral, Rolando González-José, Lavinia Schuler-Faccini, Francisco M. Salzano, Maria Cátira Bortolini, Samuel Canizales-Quinteros, Giovanni Poletti, Carla Gallo, Gabriel Bedoya, Francisco Rothhammer, David Balding, Garrett Hellenthal, Andrés Ruiz-Linares
  • University College London
  • Instituto de Alta Investigación Universidad de Tarapacá
  • Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
  • University College London
  • Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH)
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico
  • UNAM
  • University of São Paulo
  • CENPAT-CONICET
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Scientific Police of São Paulo State
  • Inst. Boliviano de Biol. de Altura
  • Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías
  • Fundación Arriaran–Facultad de Medicina Universidad de Chile
  • San Martin de Porres University
  • Centro Nacional Patagónico
  • CINVESTAV
  • Calzada Mexico Xochimilco
  • Universidad de Guadalajara
  • NIH
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • CONICET
  • Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas de Guatemala
  • University of Buenos Aires
  • University of Costa Rica
  • University of Porto
  • University of Porto
  • Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
  • Wellcome Sanger Institute
  • LEGOS, UMR 5566, IRD
  • Universitat de Barcelona
  • Universidad de Antioquia
  • University of Melbourne
  • School of Life Sciences Fudan University
  • ADES

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

152 Scopus citations

Abstract

Historical records and genetic analyses indicate that Latin Americans trace their ancestry mainly to the intermixing (admixture) of Native Americans, Europeans and Sub-Saharan Africans. Using novel haplotype-based methods, here we infer sub-continental ancestry in over 6,500 Latin Americans and evaluate the impact of regional ancestry variation on physical appearance. We find that Native American ancestry components in Latin Americans correspond geographically to the present-day genetic structure of Native groups, and that sources of non-Native ancestry, and admixture timings, match documented migratory flows. We also detect South/East Mediterranean ancestry across Latin America, probably stemming mostly from the clandestine colonial migration of Christian converts of non-European origin (Conversos). Furthermore, we find that ancestry related to highland (Central Andean) versus lowland (Mapuche) Natives is associated with variation in facial features, particularly nose morphology, and detect significant differences in allele frequencies between these groups at loci previously associated with nose morphology in this sample.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5388
JournalNature Communications
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2018

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

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