I'm beyond excited to share our new paper in Nature! We sequenced the first ancient human autosomal genomes from the Central Sahara, two ~7,000-year-old individuals from Takarkori in Libya, revealing a long-isolated North African lineage: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here's a short thread: (1/n) - ThreadSky

I'm beyond excited to share our new paper in Nature! We sequenced the first ancient human autosomal genomes from the Central Sahara, two ~7,000-year-old individuals from Takarkori in Libya, revealing a long-isolated North African lineage: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08793-7
Here's a short thread: (1/n)

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nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

During the African Humid Period (~14,500–5,000 years ago), the Sahara was green and full of lakes, rivers, and life. It supported foragers and early herders and until now, we had no ancient autosomal DNA from this region. (2/n)

nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

We analyzed DNA from two naturally mummified women buried in a rock shelter in southwestern Libya called Takarkori. The DNA preservation in the Sahara is extremely rare, but we made it work with targeted SNP capture of modern archaeogenetics methods, including variant enrichment. (3/n)

nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

We found these women represented a deeply isolated North African lineage, which is closely related to 15,000-year-old foragers from Taforalt Cave (Morocco), suggesting population continuity in North Africa across climate shifts. (4/n)

nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

Contrary to earlier ideas, we found no genetic evidence of major gene flow between sub-Saharan and North African groups during the Green Sahara. The desert didn’t act as a genetic bridge, but more of a barrier, even during its greenest phase. (5/n)

nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

One of the key findings: Takarkori individuals had 10x less Neanderthal ancestry than Levantine farmers, but still more than present-day sub-Saharan Africans. This implies limited gene flow from out-of-Africa sources, possibly via the Levant. (6/n)

nadasalem.bsky.social•33 days ago

These results support a cultural spread of pastoralism into the Central Sahara rather than one involving large-scale migration. Herders adopted livestock and techniques without significant movement of people. (7/n)

drcynthialarbey.bsky.social•32 days ago

Many congratulations! This is very exciting research.

soulscompanion.bsky.social•32 days ago

So interesting to me since I have a little North African heritage...

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