Predominant European Ancestry in Canary Islanders

**Euclides** · Sunday, March 14th, 2004

A Predominant European Ancestry of Paternal Lineages from Canary Islanders
C. Flores1,2, N. Maca-Meyer1, J. A. Pérez1, A. M. González1, J. M. Larruga1 and V. M. Cabrera1,*

Summary

We genotyped 24 biallelic sites and 5 microsatellites from the non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome in 652 males from the Canary Islands. The results indicate that, contrary to mtDNA data, paternal lineages of the current population are overwhelmingly (>90%) of European origin, arguing for a highly asymmetric pattern of mating after European occupation. However, the presence of lineages of indisputable African assignation demonstrates that an aboriginal background still persists (<10%). On the basis of distribution and dating of some of these lineages we derived a genetic perspective of settlement processes of the archipelago in two stages, congruent with anthropological, archaeological and linguistic findings.

**Euclides** · Sunday, March 14th, 2004

Phylogeographic patterns of mtDNA reflecting the colonization of the Canary Islands

J. C. RANDO1, V. M. CABRERA1, J. M. LARRUGA1, M. HERNÁNDEZ1, A. M. GONZÁLEZ1, F. PINTO1 and H.-J. BANDELT2

Although the Canary Islands were settled by humans, possibly of Berber origin, as late as 2500 years ago, the precise course and numbers of early migrations to the archipelago remain controversial. We have therefore analysed mtDNA variation (HVS-I as well as selected RFLP sites) in 300 individuals from the seven Canary Islands. The distribution and variation across the islands in a specific mtDNA clade of Northwest African ancestry suggest that there was one dominant initial settlement process that affected all the islands, from east to west. This indicates that a certain genetic affinity of present-day Canary Islanders to Northwest African Berbers mainly stems from the autochthonous population rather than slaves captured on the neighbouring African coast. The slave trade after the European conquest left measurable, though minor, traces in the mtDNA pool of the Canary Islands, which in its majority testifies to the European immigration.