ArticlePLoS biology2004
Genetic analysis of lice supports direct contact between modern and archaic humans.
Article in PLoS biology, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers.
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Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed.
- DNA Barcoding of Head Lice from a ~1500-Year-Old Salt-Preserved Mummy from the Chehrabad Salt Mine, Iran.Insects · 2026Article
- Genetic diversity and occurrence of permethrin resistance-associated mutations in a population of head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) from Seville, Spain.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Review
- Epidemiological and molecular insights into human lice (Anoplura: Pediculidae) in France: genetic diversity and DNA barcoding.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2026Article
- An insight into the salivary gland content of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Genotyping specimens of human lice from a centenary entomological collection.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2025Article
- Morphological discrimination of human lice (Anoplura: Pediculidae) by eggs' cap-like operculum.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Population genomics of seal lice provides insights into the postglacial history of northern European seals.Molecular ecology · 2024Article
- Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- POPULATION STRUCTURE AND BARTONELLA QUINTANA IN HEAD AND BODY LICE IN POKHARA, NEPAL (ANOPLURA: PEDICULIDAE).The Journal of parasitology · 2023Article
- Infectious diseases may have arrested the southward advance of microblades in Upper Palaeolithic East Asia.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Nuclear genetic diversity of head lice sheds light on human dispersal around the world.PloS one · 2023Article
- Putative native South Amerindian origin of head lice clade F: evidence from head lice nits infesting human shrunken heads.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Long-distance dispersal of pigeons and doves generated new ecological opportunities for host-switching and adaptive radiation by their parasites.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Phylogenetic relationship between the endosymbiont "Candidatus Riesia pediculicola" and its human louse host.Parasites & vectors · 2022Article
- Ancient Human Genomes and Environmental DNA from the Cement Attaching 2,000-Year-Old Head Lice Nits.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- High Genetic Diversity andFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Head lice were also affected by COVID-19: a decrease on Pediculosis infestation during lockdown in Buenos Aires.Parasitology research · 2021Article
- Molecular Characterization and Genetic Diversity of Haplogroup E Human Lice in Guinea, West Africa.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Article
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Parasites can be used as unique markers to investigate host evolutionary history, independent of host data. Here we show that modern human head lice, Pediculus humanus, are composed of two ancient lineages, whose origin predates modern Homo sapiens by an order of magnitude (ca. 1.18 million years). One of the two louse lineages has a worldwide distribution and appears to have undergone a population bottleneck ca. 100,000 years ago along with its modern H. sapiens host. Phylogenetic and population genetic data suggest that the other lineage, found only in the New World, has remained isolated from the worldwide lineage for the last 1.18 million years. The ancient divergence between these two lice is contemporaneous with splits among early species of Homo, and cospeciation analyses suggest that the two louse lineages codiverged with a now extinct species of Homo and the lineage leading to modern H. sapiens. If these lice indeed codiverged with their hosts ca. 1.18 million years ago, then a recent host switch from an archaic species of Homo to modern H. sapiens is required to explain the occurrence of both lineages on modern H. sapiens. Such a host switch would require direct physical contact between modern and archaic forms of Homo.
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