Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) and Hawaii are part of Polynesia, a group of more than 1,000 islands spread over an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly equal to the areas of North and South America combined. Hawaii and Easter Island are the farthest of these isles from each other, at about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) apart — around the distance from San Francisco to Lima, Peru.
Specifically, the scientists compared the length of chromosomal segments shared among people from different islands. The longer these shared segments are between two people, the more recently they shared a common ancestor.
"This was really shocking at first — these islands are so distant from one another," Ioannidis said.
"Once you know there was this extremely capable long-distance ultravoyaging culture capable of reaching one of these islands, having it reach the other makes more sense," Ioannidis said.
All in all, these genetic findings suggest the ancestors of Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders shared some time together as a common group after splitting away from the population of ancient Mangareva. Some members of this group then went on to settle Hawaii, and others from this Mangareva group voyaged to Easter Island.
Founder effect
The researchers also investigated the effects of genetic bottlenecks that resulted when these islands were settled by small numbers of people — phenomena known as "founder effects."
The scientists found that Native Polynesian populations examined in the study often experienced a compounding set of founder effects over time. This is because islands settled by a few people then went on to send out small groups to settle other islands, and so on.
The new study revealed that an even stronger founder effect has been overlooked among Native Hawaiians, with founder effects more than 10 times larger than in those European groups.
Related stories"The founder effect doesn't just reflect genetic diversity, but also cultural and linguistic diversity," Kirch said. "It probably helps explain why the cultures of eastern Polynesia all share a lot in common — they all trace to one central group."
"There should be a lot more resources going into learning more about gene variants of potential clinical significance among this population of Native Hawaiians, which is twice as large as the U.S. Amish population," Ioannidis said. "There are really opportunities for precision health here."
Hence then, the article about native hawaiians and easter islanders came from same ultravoyager group was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders came from same 'ultravoyager' group )
Also on site :
- Watch Sarah Paulson Leave Jessica Lange Stunned With Emotional Confession: ‘She Most Inspired Me’ (Exclusive)
- Who Won ‘Jeopardy’ Today? (October 28, 2026) Plus, the Final Jeopardy Answer
- In the mid-1980s, Willie Nelson built a Western town on his Texas ranch as a movie set; decades later, it hosts an annual festival and has been home to more than 70 rescue horses