The oldest genetic link between Asians and Native Americans was found in Siberia
DNA gleaned from a roughly 14,000-year-old fragment of a human tooth suggests that people inhabiting a surprisingly large swath of Asia were the ancestors of the first Americans. This tooth, unearthed at a site just south of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, provides the oldest known genetic link between Stone Age Asians and ancient American settlers, scientists report May 20 in Cell. Present-day Native Americans in North and South America are partly related to those early arrivals, the team says. Like a previously studied, nearly 10,000-year-old man in northeastern Siberia (SN: 6/7/19), the southern Siberian individual inherited genes from two Asian populations that contributed to the genetic makeup of Native Americans (SN: 2/10/10). DNA from a partial tooth (shown from different angles) found in Siberia represents the oldest known genetic connection between Stone Age Asians and the first Americans.G. Pavlenok, H. Yu et al/Cell 2020 DNA from a partial tooth (shown from different angles) found in Siberia represents the oldest known genetic connection between...