Polynesian origins: Insights from the Y chromosome

The question surrounding the colonization of Polynesia has remained controv ersial. Two hypotheses, one postulating Taiwan as the putative homeland and the other asserting a Melanesian origin of the Polynesian people, have rec eived considerable attention. In this work, we present haplotype data based on the distribution of 19 biallelic polymorphisms on the Y chromosome in a sample of 551 male individuals from 36 populations living in Southeast Asi a, Taiwan, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. Surprisingly, nearly none of the Taiwanese Y haplotypes were found in Micronesia and Polynesia. Likew ise, a Melanesian-specific haplotype was not found among the Polynesians. H owever, all of the Polynesian, Micronesian, and Taiwanese haplotypes are pr esent in the extant Southeast Asian populations. Evidently, the Y-chromosom e data do not lend support to either of the prevailing hypotheses. Rather, we postulate that Southeast Asia provided a genetic source for two independ ent migrations, one toward Taiwan and the other toward Polynesia through is land Southeast Asia.