The genomic history of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands
Rosa Fregel, Vanessa Villena-Tejero, Héctor Morales-Benítez et al.
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Abstract
Summary of the research findings
The indigenous people of the Canary Islands, the Guanches, were a Berber-related population that lived in isolation for more than a millennium before being conquered by Europeans in the 15th century CE. To shed light on their genomic history, we sequenced the genomes of 40 ancient individuals from seven islands, spanning the 7th-16th centuries CE. We find that the Canary Islands were settled by at least two distinct waves of migration from North Africa. The genetic composition of the first settlers was similar to that of present-day North Africans, particularly Moroccans and Tunisians. However, there is also evidence of additional ancestry that may have come from sub-Saharan Africa. Our results reveal a complex population history involving multiple migrations and genetic drift in island populations.
Analysis
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