Putative native South Amerindian origin of head lice clade F : evidence from head lice nits infesting human shrunken heads Amanzougaghene, N. Charlier, P. Fenollar, F. Raoult, D. /Mediannikov, Oleg The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is a strictly obligate human ectoparasite with a long history of association with humans. Here, 17 ancient head lice nits were recovered from six shrunken human heads (known as tsantsas) of individuals from the Shuar/Jivaro tribe, a native Amazonian population from Ecuador, South America. Cytochrome b DNA analysis revealed the presence of three known mitochondrial clades. Clade A was the most frequent (52.94%), followed by F (35.29%), and B (11.76%). Eleven haplotypes were found in 17 samples, and nine of the haplotypes were novel, indicating an unusually high genetic diversity. In conclusion, we confirmed the presence of clades A, B and F in South Amerindian population. Moreover, the description of clade F, together with its previous reports in another Amerindian population from French Guiana, strongly support the hypothesis of a native South American origin for this clade, and probably derived from clade B which was carried to America by an ancestral Eurasian Beringian population. Further support to our conclusion and new insights might come from the analysis of a larger collection of modern and ancient native American lice. 2022 text https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010084649 fdi:010084649 Amanzougaghene N., Charlier P., Fenollar F., Raoult D., Mediannikov Oleg. Putative native South Amerindian origin of head lice clade F : evidence from head lice nits infesting human shrunken heads. 2022, 12 (1), 4307 [7 ] EN EQUATEUR AMERIQUE DU SUD GUYANE FRANÇAISE AMAZONIE