Linguistic and Cultural Evolution

GeLaTo, a global database, helps to explore the complex history of our genes and languages

Does the history of our languages match the history of our genes? Charles Darwin thought yes, others said no. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the University of Zurich and Harvard University has put together GeLaTo, a global database linking linguistic and genetic data. They found a large number of matches but also widespread and systematic mismatches.

Publication: Chiara Barbieri , et al., A global analysis of matches and mismatches between human genetic and linguistic histories, Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2122084119.

Original Story Source: Max Planck Institute