Origins and genetic legacies of the Caribbean Taino.

The Caribbean was one of the last parts of the Americas to be settled by humans, but how and when the islands were first occupied remains a matter of debate. Ancient DNA can help answering these questions, but the work has been hampered by poor DNA preservation. We report the genome sequence of a 1,000-year-old Lucayan Taino individual recovered from the site of Preacher's Cave in the Bahamas. We sequenced her genome to 12.4-fold coverage and show that she is genetically most closely related to present-day Arawakan speakers from northern South America, suggesting that the ancestors of the Lucayans originated there. Further, we find no evidence for recent inbreeding or isolation in the ancient genome, suggesting that the Lucayans had a relatively large effective population size. Finally, we show that the native American components in some present-day Caribbean genomes are closely related to the ancient Taino, demonstrating an element of continuity between precontact populations and present-day Latino populations in the Caribbean.

Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean.

The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans, but where they came from and how and when they reached the islands remain unclear. We generated genome-wide data for 93 ancient Caribbean islanders dating between 3200 and 400 calibrated years before the present and found evidence of at least three separate dispersals into the region, including two early dispersals into the Western Caribbean, one of which seems connected to radiation events in North America. This was followed by a later expansion from South America. We also detected genetic differences between the early settlers and the newcomers from South America, with almost no evidence of admixture. Our results add to our understanding of the initial peopling of the Caribbean and the movements of Archaic Age peoples in the Americas.

Accuracy and Reliability of Total Body Mass Estimation Techniques from Stature and Bi-iliac Breadth in Non-Hispanic U.S. Whites from the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection.

This paper tests the fidelity of a recent method that used the NHANES III dataset as a proxy to estimate total body mass from stature and bi-iliac breadth in U.S. White males and females. The bi-iliac breadths of 230 males and 152 females identified as non-Hispanic U.S. White from the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection were measured, and along with stature from predonor paperwork, total body mass estimates were calculated and then compared to body masses recorded on predonor paperwork. Male and female samples were subdivided by body mass index (BMI [kg/m2 ]) categories established by the World Health Organization. Our results suggest that total body mass estimates can be accurately assessed provided that the individual is within 18.50 ≤ BMI ≤ 29.99 for White males and 18.50 ≤ BMI ≤ 24.99 for White females. Recommendations on how to report total body mass estimates are also presented.

Total Body Mass Estimation from Anthropometric Measurements in Modern Young Adult U.S. Populations with Healthy Body Fat Percentages (NHANES III).

This study presents a method by which to estimate total body mass in modern young adult U.S. populations who self-identified as non-Hispanic U.S. White, non-Hispanic U.S. Black, and Mexican American with anthropometric measurements from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) 1988-1994 dataset (N = 2532). Correlations of stature and bi-iliac breadth with total body mass were stronger among males (r = 0.717-0.774) than among females (r = 0.549-0.661), yet these results were more accurate assessments of total body mass than existing techniques. This study also examined additional anthropometric measurements to estimate total body mass using an information-theoretic approach demonstrating that some error in the stature-bi-iliac breadth method is attributed to a nonsupported model with multimodel inference. The limitations of the current total body mass technique are discussed as well as the need for future studies to validate the method.