Human migration patterns in Yemen and implications for reconstructing prehistoric population movements

Aida T Miró-Herrans; Ali Al-Meeri; Connie J Mulligan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095712

Human migration patterns in Yemen and implications for reconstructing prehistoric population movements

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 23;9(4):e95712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095712. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Aida T Miró-Herrans¹, Ali Al-Meeri², Connie J Mulligan³

Affiliations

¹ Genetics and Genomics Graduate Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America; University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America; Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
² Clinical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Republic of Yemen.
³ University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America; Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.

Abstract

Population migration has played an important role in human evolutionary history and in the patterning of human genetic variation. A deeper and empirically-based understanding of human migration dynamics is needed in order to interpret genetic and archaeological evidence and to accurately reconstruct the prehistoric processes that comprise human evolutionary history. Current empirical estimates of migration include either short time frames (i.e. within one generation) or partial knowledge about migration, such as proportion of migrants or distance of migration. An analysis of migration that includes both proportion of migrants and distance, and direction over multiple generations would better inform prehistoric reconstructions. To evaluate human migration, we use GPS coordinates from the place of residence of the Yemeni individuals sampled in our study, their birthplaces and their parents' and grandparents' birthplaces to calculate the proportion of migrants, as well as the distance and direction of migration events between each generation. We test for differences in these values between the generations and identify factors that influence the probability of migration. Our results show that the proportion and distance of migration between females and males is similar within generations. In contrast, the proportion and distance of migration is significantly lower in the grandparents' generation, most likely reflecting the decreasing effect of technology. Based on our results, we calculate the proportion of migration events (0.102) and mean and median distances of migration (96 km and 26 km) for the grandparent's generation to represent early times in human evolution. These estimates can serve to set parameter values of demographic models in model-based methods of prehistoric reconstruction, such as approximate Bayesian computation. Our study provides the first empirically-based estimates of human migration over multiple generations in a developing country and these estimates are intended to enable more precise reconstruction of the demographic processes that characterized human evolution.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Female
Human Migration / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Male
Population Dynamics / statistics & numerical data
Yemen

Grants and funding

This research was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant #BCS-0518530 to CJM and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to ATMH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.