Abstract:
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We study the major levels of Y-chromosome
haplogroup variation in 15 Sudanese populations
by typing major Y-haplogroups in 445 unrelated males
representing the three linguistic families in Sudan. Our
analysis shows Sudanese populations fall into haplogroups
A, B, E, F, I, J, K, and R in frequencies of 16.9,
7.9, 34.4, 3.1, 1.3, 22.5, 0.9, and 13% respectively. Haplogroups
A, B, and E occur mainly in Nilo-Saharan
speaking groups including Nilotics, Fur, Borgu, and
Masalit; whereas haplogroups F, I, J, K, and R are more
frequent among Afro-Asiatic speaking groups including
Arabs, Beja, Copts, and Hausa, and Niger-Congo speakers
from the Fulani ethnic group. Mantel tests reveal a
strong correlation between genetic and linguistic structures
(r 5 0.31, P 5 0.007), and a similar correlation
between genetic and geographic distances (r 5 0.29, P 5
0.025) that appears after removing nomadic pastoralists
of no known geographic locality from the analysis. The
bulk of genetic diversity appears to be a consequence of
recent migrations and demographic events mainly from
Asia and Europe, evident in a higher migration rate for
speakers of Afro-Asiatic as compared with the Nilo-
Saharan family of languages, and a generally higher
effective population size for the former. The data provide
insights not only into the history of the Nile Valley, but
also in part to the history of Africa and the area of the
Sahel. Am J Phys Anthropol 000:000–000, 2008. |