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Recent selection of candidate genes for mammal domestication in Europeans and language change in Europe: a hypothesis

Benítez-Burraco, Antonio; Chekalin, Evgeny; Bruskin, Sergey; Tatarinova, Tatiana; Morozova, Irina (2021). Recent selection of candidate genes for mammal domestication in Europeans and language change in Europe: a hypothesis. Annals of Human Biology, 48(4):313-320.

Abstract

Background and aim: Human evolution resulted from changes in our biology, behaviour, and culture. One source of these changes has been hypothesised to be our self-domestication (that is, the development in humans of features commonly found in domesticated strains of mammals, seemingly as a result of selection for reduced aggression). Signals of domestication, notably brain size reduction, have increased in recent times.

Methods: In this paper, we compare whole-genome data between the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age individuals and modern Europeans.

Results: We show that genes associated with mammal domestication and with neural crest development and function are significantly differently enriched in nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms between these two groups.

Conclusion: We hypothesise that these changes might account for the increased features of self-domestication in modern humans and, ultimately, for subtle recent changes in human cognition and behaviour, including language.

Keywords: Late Neolithic/Bronze Age; Self-domestication; language change; nonsynonymous SNPs.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:04 Faculty of Medicine > Institute of Evolutionary Medicine
Dewey Decimal Classification:610 Medicine & health
Scopus Subject Areas:Health Sciences > Epidemiology
Life Sciences > Physiology
Life Sciences > Aging
Life Sciences > Genetics
Health Sciences > Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Uncontrolled Keywords:Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Genetics, Ageing, Physiology, Epidemiology
Language:English
Date:19 May 2021
Deposited On:18 Oct 2021 14:03
Last Modified:14 Mar 2025 04:40
Publisher:Informa Healthcare
ISSN:0301-4460
OA Status:Closed
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2021.1936634
PubMed ID:34241552
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