000165142 001__ 165142 000165142 005__ 20251212165958.0 000165142 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1126/science.ady4515 000165142 0248_ $$2sideral$$a146627 000165142 037__ $$aART-2025-146627 000165142 041__ $$aeng 000165142 100__ $$aHaba, Yuki 000165142 245__ $$aAncient origin of an urban underground mosquito 000165142 260__ $$c2025 000165142 5203_ $$aUnderstanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipiens form molestus, also known as the London Underground mosquito. Population genomic analysis of ~350 contemporary and historical samples counters the popular hypothesis that molestus originated belowground in London <200 years ago. Instead, we show that molestus first adapted to human environments aboveground in the Mediterranean or Middle East over the course of more than 1000 years, possibly in association with ancient agricultural civilizations of the Middle East. Our results highlight the role of early human society in priming taxa for contemporary urban evolution. They also provide insight into whether and how molestus contributes to West Nile virus transmission in modern cities. 000165142 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess$$aAll rights reserved$$uhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 000165142 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000165142 700__ $$aPipPop Consortium 000165142 700__ $$aKorlevic, Petra 000165142 700__ $$aMcAlister, Erica 000165142 700__ $$aLawniczak, Mara K. N. 000165142 700__ $$aSchumer, Molly 000165142 700__ $$aRose, Noah H. 000165142 700__ $$aMcBride, Carolyn S. 000165142 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-8198-8118$$aRuiz Arrondo, Ignacio$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000165142 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-7046-2997$$aDelacour, Sarah A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000165142 7102_ $$11009$$2773$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Patología Animal$$cÁrea Sanidad Animal 000165142 773__ $$g390, 6771 (2025), 14$$pSci.$$tScience$$x0036-8075 000165142 8564_ $$s6906716$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165142/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000165142 8564_ $$s3040008$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165142/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000165142 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:165142$$particulos$$pdriver 000165142 951__ $$a2025-12-12-14:43:37 000165142 980__ $$aARTICLE