Table 1.
Divergence time estimation between African populations speaking languages belonging to the main language phyla. All the estimates were inferred with MSMC using one individual from each population. CRHG represents central African rainforest hunter-gatherers, including east central African rainforest hunter-gatherers (East CRHG) Mbuti, west central African rainforest hunter-gatherers (West CRHG) Baka, Biaka, Bakola, and Bedzan. San: Khomani San and Ju|'hoan; Niger-Congo: Yoruba. Nilo-Saharan: Sengwer. Afroasiatic: Rendille. CRHG: Baka, Biaka, Bakola, Bedzan, Mbuti. The divergence times that we report here are based on relative cross-coalescent rates at 50% (25–75%)
| Population 1 | Population 2 | Divergence time (kya) |
|---|---|---|
| San | Niger-Congo | ~ 100 (59–160) |
| San | Nilo-Saharan | ~ 100–120 (44–160) |
| San | Afroasiatic | ~ 100–120 (52–160) |
| San | Hadza and Sandawe | ~ 68–85 (44–100) |
| San | CRHG | ~ 78–85 (52–120) |
| West CRHG | East CRHG | ~ 44 (31–50) |
| Niger-Congo | Afroasiatic | ~ 34 (22–54) |
| Niger-Congo | Nilo-Saharan | ~ 28 (17–41) |
| Nilo-Saharan | Afroasiatic | ~ 16 (11–16) |
| Hadza | Sandawe | ~ 23 (17–23) |
| Khomani San | Ju|’hoan | ~ 30 (24–30) |