Identification of the remains of King Richard III

Turi E King; Gloria Gonzalez Fortes; Patricia Balaresque; Mark G Thomas; David Balding; Pierpaolo Maisano Delser; Rita Neumann; Walther Parson; Michael Knapp; Susan Walsh; Laure Tonasso; John Holt; Manfred Kayser; Jo Appleby; Peter Forster; David Ekserdjian; Michael Hofreiter; Kevin Schürer

doi:10.1038/ncomms6631

Identification of the remains of King Richard III

Turi E King, Gloria Gonzalez Fortes, Patricia Balaresque, Mark G Thomas, David Balding, Pierpaolo Maisano Delser, Rita Neumann, Walther Parson, Michael Knapp, Susan Walsh, Laure Tonasso, John Holt, Manfred Kayser, Jo Appleby, Peter Forster, David Ekserdjian, Michael Hofreiter, Kevin Schürer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

203 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

In 2012, a skeleton was excavated at the presumed site of the Grey Friars friary in Leicester, the last-known resting place of King Richard III. Archaeological, osteological and radiocarbon dating data were consistent with these being his remains. Here we report DNA analyses of both the skeletal remains and living relatives of Richard III. We find a perfect mitochondrial DNA match between the sequence obtained from the remains and one living relative, and a single-base substitution when compared with a second relative. Y-chromosome haplotypes from male-line relatives and the remains do not match, which could be attributed to a false-paternity event occurring in any of the intervening generations. DNA-predicted hair and eye colour are consistent with Richard's appearance in an early portrait. We calculate likelihood ratios for the non-genetic and genetic data separately, and combined, and conclude that the evidence for the remains being those of Richard III is overwhelming.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5631
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6631
Publication status	Published - 2 Dec 2014

Keywords

Base Sequence
Chromosomes, Human, Y/genetics
DNA Fingerprinting
DNA, Mitochondrial/analysis
Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Genetics
Haplotypes
Humans
Male
Molecular Sequence Data
Paternity

Access to Document

10.1038/ncomms6631

Cite this

King, T. E., Fortes, G. G., Balaresque, P., Thomas, M. G., Balding, D., Maisano Delser, P., Neumann, R., Parson, W., Knapp, M., Walsh, S., Tonasso, L., Holt, J., Kayser, M., Appleby, J., Forster, P., Ekserdjian, D., Hofreiter, M., & Schürer, K. (2014). Identification of the remains of King Richard III. Nature Communications, 5, 5631. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6631

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title = "Identification of the remains of King Richard III",

abstract = "In 2012, a skeleton was excavated at the presumed site of the Grey Friars friary in Leicester, the last-known resting place of King Richard III. Archaeological, osteological and radiocarbon dating data were consistent with these being his remains. Here we report DNA analyses of both the skeletal remains and living relatives of Richard III. We find a perfect mitochondrial DNA match between the sequence obtained from the remains and one living relative, and a single-base substitution when compared with a second relative. Y-chromosome haplotypes from male-line relatives and the remains do not match, which could be attributed to a false-paternity event occurring in any of the intervening generations. DNA-predicted hair and eye colour are consistent with Richard's appearance in an early portrait. We calculate likelihood ratios for the non-genetic and genetic data separately, and combined, and conclude that the evidence for the remains being those of Richard III is overwhelming.",

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AU - Fortes, Gloria Gonzalez

AU - Balaresque, Patricia

AU - Thomas, Mark G

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AU - Maisano Delser, Pierpaolo

AU - Neumann, Rita

AU - Parson, Walther

AU - Knapp, Michael

AU - Walsh, Susan

AU - Tonasso, Laure

AU - Holt, John

AU - Kayser, Manfred

AU - Appleby, Jo

AU - Forster, Peter

AU - Ekserdjian, David

AU - Hofreiter, Michael

AU - Schürer, Kevin

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KW - Male

KW - Molecular Sequence Data

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