Our results lend support for two distinct waves of migrations into the Pacific.
First early migrations to New Guinea and Australia accompanied by hpSahul and second a
Much later dispersal of hspMaori from Taiwan through the Pacific by the Malayo-Polynesian-speaking Lapita culture.
Each sampling area yielded either hpSahul or hspMaori haplotypes but not both.
The lack of overlap between these populations may retlect differential fitness of the parasite as has been inferred for the moderm replacement of hspAmerind haplotypes by European and African H. pvlori in South America (19,20).
Alternatively hpSahul and hspMaori may still coexist in unsampled islands of East Asia Melanesia and coastal New Guinea where their identification might help to unravel the details of human history in those areas.