French Polynesia

A new study published in Science examines the genetic legacy of Polynesian settlement, tracing nested founder effects from French Polynesia to Rapa Nui and Hawaiʻi. Researchers show how each wave of migration carried only a subset of ancestral variation, leaving distinct genetic signatures across the eastern Pacific. The findings refine understanding of how people colonised the farthest reaches of Polynesia and how small founding groups shaped present-day populations there.