Genomic and morphometric evidence for Austronesian-mediated pig translocation in the Pacific

Science 2026 Open access

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Authors: David W. G. Stanton, Aurélie Manin, Allowen Evin, Kristina Tabbada, Anna Linderholm, Rosie Drinkwater, Olaf Thalmann, Said I. Ng'ang'a, Noel Amano, Atholl Anderson, Ross Barnett, Patrick Barrière
+46 more Stuart Bedford, Peter Bellwood, Adam Brumm, Trung Cao Tien, Geoffrey Clark, R. Crooijmans, Thomas Cucchi, Michelle S. Eusebio, Linus Girdland-Flink, Peter Galbusera, Martien A.M Groenen, Budianto Hakim, Stuart Hawkins, Holly Heiniger, Kristofer Michael Helgen, Michael J. Herrera, Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, Eusebio Dizon, Hsiao‐chun Hung, Karen Greig, Terry L. Hunt, Andrew C. Kitchener, Carol Lee, Alastair A. Macdonald, Megens Hendrik-Jan, Erik Meijaard, Kieren J. Mitchell, Christopher Moran, Karen Mudar, Karma Nidup, Marc Oxenham, Rinzin Pem, Philip J. Piper, Lachie Scarsbrook, Kyle M. Schachtschneider, Lawrence B. Schook, Pradeepa Silva, Matthew Spriggs, Samuel T. Turvey, Una S. Vioarsdottir, Murray P. Cox, Tim Denham, Jaime Gongora, Keith Dobney, Greger Larson, Laurent Frantz
DOI: 10.1126/science.adv4963
Cited by: 6
References: 56

Abstract

) to the islands of Wallacea and Oceania have considerably altered local ecosystems. To investigate the timing and trajectory of these introductions, we conducted both genomic analyses of 576 pig nuclear genomes and a geometric morphometric analysis of 708 modern and ancient dental remains. Our analyses demonstrate that free-living and domestic pigs in Wallacea and Oceania have diverse ancestries resulting from the introduction of multiple sequential pig populations followed by gene flow. Despite the variability in their genomic ancestry, these pigs all have a distinct tooth morphology as well as a genetic link to the Chinese domestic pig populations that accompanied the dispersal of Austronesian language speakers ~4000 to 3000 years ago via Taiwan and the Philippines.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Forensic and Genetic Research Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Publication details

Journal / source
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Volume
391
Issue
6780
Pages
eadv4963–eadv4963
Publication date
1 January 2026
Language
EN