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POPULATION GENETICS

A steppe in the right direction

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 877–878 (2019)Cite this article

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The authors of a new genomic study propose three distinct latitudinal clines of ancestry among modern Inner Eurasians, each built upon successive layers of admixture.

Jeong et al. primarily model inner Eurasians as mixtures of western and eastern ancestries, the proportions of which correlate strongly with longitude. Crucially, however, the authors demonstrate that the best proxy populations for these admixing eastern and western components differ on a latitudinal basis, driving the formation of three distinct genetic clines (Fig. 1b–d) that correspond with ecoregion and language.

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Fig. 1: The genomic formation of inner Eurasians.

Ecoregions 2017, Resolve https://ecoregions2017.appspot.com/

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  1. Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Lara M. Cassidy

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  1. Lara M. Cassidy
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Correspondence to Lara M. Cassidy.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Cassidy, L.M. A steppe in the right direction. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 877–878 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0876-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0876-4

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