Dr Adam Rohrlach

Associate Lecturer

School of Biological Sciences

College of Science


I research human history via ancient DNA at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, an affiliated lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide and a former associate lecturer of statistics in the School of Mathematical Sciences. My areas of interest are bioinformatics, Y chromosomal studies population genetics and genetic relatedness analyses.

Date Position Institution name
2024 - ongoing Affiliate Lecturer University of Adelaide
2021 - ongoing Postdoctoroal Researcher Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
2019 - 2021 Postdoctoral Researcher Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
2017 - 2024 Associate Lecturer University of Adelaide

Date Institution name Country Title
2014 - 2018 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
2012 - 2014 University of Adelaide Austalia M.Phil
2009 - 2011 University of Adelaide Australia B Ma Sc

Year Citation
2026 Higgins, D., & Rohrlach, A. B. (2026). Evidentiary value of tooth presence/absence patterns for human identification. Forensic Science International, 379, 6 pages.
DOI
2025 Davidson, R., Ravishankar, S., Souilmi, Y., Roca-Rada, X., Sobek, C., Taufik, L., . . . Pérez, V. (2025). The necessity for authentication of ancient DNA from archaeological artefacts. Journal of Archaeological Science, 181, 9 pages.
DOI
2025 Bretos Ezcurra, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Papac, L., Royo Guillén, J. I., Barquera, R., Gómez Lecumberri, F., . . . Villalba-Mouco, V. (2025). Genomic insights from a final Bronze Age community buried in a collective tumulus in an Urnfield settlement in Northeastern Iberia. Communications Biology, 8(1), 12 pages.
DOI
2025 Barquera, R., Sitter, T. L., Kirkpatrick, C. L., Ramirez, D. A., Kocher, A., Spyrou, M. A., . . . Bos, K. I. (2025). Ancient genomes reveal a deep history of Treponema pallidum in the Americas. Nature, 640(8057), 186-193.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC5
2025 Sümer, A. P., Rougier, H., Villalba-Mouco, V., Huang, Y., Iasi, L. N. M., Essel, E., . . . Krause, J. (2025). Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture. Nature, 638(8051), 711-717.
DOI Scopus15 WoS14 Europe PMC5
2025 Wang, K., Tobias, B., Pany-Kucera, D., Berner, M., Eggers, S., Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., . . . Hofmanová, Z. (2025). Ancient DNA reveals reproductive barrier despite shared Avar-period culture.. Nature, 638(8052), 1007-1014.
DOI Scopus9 WoS11 Europe PMC6
2025 Rohrlach, A. B., Tuke, J., Popli, D. R., & Haak, W. (2025). BREADR: An R Package for the Bayesian Estimation of Genetic Relatedness from Low-coverage Genotype Data. Journal of Open Source Software, 10(108), 7916.
DOI
2025 Nägele, K., Kinaston, R., Gaffney, D., Walworth, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Carlhoff, S., . . . Krause, J. (2025). The impact of human dispersals and local interactions on the genetic diversity of coastal Papua New Guinea over the past 2,500 years. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 9(6), 908-923.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Perkins, H., Rohrlach, A., Hughes, T., Forrest, A., & Higgins, D. (2025). 3D imaging for dental identification: a pilot investigation of a novel segmentation method using an intra oral scanning device. Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology, 21(3), 1213-1221.
DOI
2024 Michel, M., Skourtanioti, E., Pierini, F., Guevara, E. K., Mötsch, A., Kocher, A., . . . Krause, J. (2024). Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria. Nature, 631(8019), 125-133.
DOI Scopus16 WoS17 Europe PMC14
2024 Barquera, R., Del Castillo-Chávez, O., Nägele, K., Pérez-Ramallo, P., Hernández-Zaragoza, D. I., Szolek, A., . . . Krause, J. (2024). Ancient genomes reveal insights into ritual life at Chichén Itzá. Nature, 630(8018), 912-919.
DOI Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC6
2024 Childebayeva, A., Fricke, F., Rohrlach, A. B., Huang, L., Schiffels, S., Vesakoski, O., . . . Haak, W. (2024). Bronze age Northern Eurasian genetics in the context of development of metallurgy and Siberian ancestry. Communications Biology, 7(1), 12 pages.
DOI Scopus7 WoS3 Europe PMC2
2024 Gretzinger, J., Gibbon, V. E., Penske, S. E., Sealy, J. C., Rohrlach, A. B., Salazar-García, D. C., . . . Schiffels, S. (2024). 9,000 years of genetic continuity in southernmost Africa demonstrated at Oakhurst rockshelter. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 8(11), 2121-2134.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC2
2024 Ghalichi, A., Reinhold, S., Rohrlach, A. B., Kalmykov, A. A., Childebayeva, A., Yu, H., . . . Haak, W. (2024). The rise and transformation of Bronze Age pastoralists in the Caucasus. Nature, 635(8040), 917-925.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC4
2024 Velsko, I. M., Fagernäs, Z., Tromp, M., Bedford, S., Buckley, H. R., Clark, G., . . . Warinner, C. (2024). Exploring the potential of dental calculus to shed light on past human migrations in Oceania. Nature Communications, 15(1), 10191-1-10191-17.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC6
2024 Rivollat, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Ringbauer, H., Childebayeva, A., Mendisco, F., Barquera, R., . . . Haak, W. (2024). Inferences on regional networks from local genetic trees, the example of the Neolithic site of Gurgy 'les Noisats'. Bulletins Et Memoires De La Societe D Anthropologie De Paris, 36.
2024 Rohrlach, A. B., Rivollat, M., de-Miguel-Ibáñez, P., Moilanen, U., Liira, A. -M., Teixeira, J. C., . . . Prüfer, K. (2024). Cases of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 among historic and prehistoric individuals discovered from ancient DNA. Nature Communications, 15(1), 1294-1-1294-8.
DOI Scopus8 WoS9 Europe PMC8
2024 Orfanou, E., Zach, B., Rohrlach, A. B., Schneider, F. N., Paust, E., Lucas, M., . . . Roberts, P. (2024). Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 13 pages.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
2024 Penske, S., Küßner, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Knipper, C., Nováček, J., Childebayeva, A., . . . Haak, W. (2024). Kinship practices at the early bronze age site of Leubingen in Central Germany. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 15 pages.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2023 Villalba-Mouco, V., van de Loosdrecht, M. S., Rohrlach, A. B., Fewlass, H., Talamo, S., Yu, H., . . . Haak, W. (2023). A 23,000-year-old southern Iberian individual links human groups that lived in Western Europe before and after the Last Glacial Maximum.. Nature ecology & evolution, 7(4), 597-609.
DOI Scopus27 WoS29 Europe PMC18
2023 Posth, C., Yu, H., Ghalichi, A., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Huang, Y., . . . Krause, J. (2023). Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers.. Nature, 615(7950), 117-126.
DOI Scopus117 WoS107 Europe PMC82
2023 Posth, C., Yu, H., Ghalichi, A., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Huang, Y., . . . Krause, J. (2023). Author Correction: Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers.. Nature, 616(7956), E5.
DOI Scopus1 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2023 Rohrlach, A., Tuke, J., Popli, D., & Haak, W. (2023). BREADR: An R Package for the Bayesian Estimation of Genetic Relatedness from Low-coverage Genotype Data.
DOI Europe PMC5
2023 Penske, S., Rohrlach, A. B., Childebayeva, A., Gnecchi-Ruscone, G., Schmid, C., Spyrou, M. A., . . . Haak, W. (2023). Early contact between late farming and pastoralist societies in southeastern Europe. Nature, 620(7973), 358-365.
DOI Scopus28 WoS25 Europe PMC23
2023 Rivollat, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Ringbauer, H., Childebayeva, A., Mendisco, F., Barquera, R., . . . Haak, W. (2023). Extensive pedigrees reveal the social organization of a Neolithic community.. Nature, 620(7974), 600-606.
DOI Scopus54 WoS47 Europe PMC42
2023 Childebayeva, A., Fricke, F., Rohrlach, A. B., Huang, L., Schiffels, S., Vesakoski, O., . . . Haak, W. (2023). Bronze Age Northern Eurasian Genetics in the Context of Development of Metallurgy and Siberian Ancestry.
DOI
2023 Carlhoff, S., Kutanan, W., Rohrlach, A. B., Posth, C., Stoneking, M., Nägele, K., . . . Krause, J. (2023). Genomic portrait and relatedness patterns of the Iron Age Log Coffin culture in northwestern Thailand. Nature Communications, 14(1), 9 pages.
DOI Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC6
2023 Rivollat, M., Rohrlach, A. B., & Ringbauer, H. (2023). Neolithic Community Revealed Using Ancient DNA Data. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS PART A, 191(12), 2797-2798.
DOI
2022 Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Koncz, I., Csiky, G., Rácz, Z., Rohrlach, A. B., . . . Krause, J. (2022). Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7<sup>th</sup> century Avar elites.. Cell, 185(8), 1402-1413.
DOI Scopus55 WoS45 Europe PMC42
2022 Rivollat, M., Thomas, A., Ghesquière, E., Rohrlach, A. B., Späth, E., Pemonge, M. -H., . . . Deguilloux, M. -F. (2022). Ancient DNA gives new insights into a Norman Neolithic monumental cemetery dedicated to male elites.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(18), 9 pages.
DOI Scopus22 WoS19 Europe PMC20
2022 Yu, H., van de Loosdrecht, M. S., Mannino, M. A., Talamo, S., Rohrlach, A. B., Childebayeva, A., . . . Krause, J. (2022). Genomic and dietary discontinuities during the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Sicily.. iScience, 25(5), 28 pages.
DOI Scopus22 WoS21 Europe PMC23
2022 Childebayeva, A., Rohrlach, A. B., Barquera, R., Rivollat, M., Aron, F., Szolek, A., . . . Haak, W. (2022). Population Genetics and Signatures of Selection in Early Neolithic European Farmers.. Molecular biology and evolution, 39(6), 17 pages.
DOI Scopus29 WoS28 Europe PMC33
2022 Roca-Rada, X., Tereso, S., Rohrlach, A. B., Brito, A., Williams, M. P., Umbelino, C., . . . Teixeira, J. C. (2022). A 1000-year-old case of Klinefelter's syndrome diagnosed by integrating morphology, osteology, and genetics.. Lancet (London, England), 400(10353), 691-692.
DOI Scopus12 WoS10 Europe PMC5
2022 Souilmi, Y., Tobler, R., Johar, A., Williams, M., Grey, S. T., Schmidt, J., . . . Huber, C. D. (2022). Admixture has obscured signals of historical hard sweeps in humans. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(12), 2003-2015.
DOI Scopus18 WoS17 Europe PMC26
2022 Villalba-Mouco, V., Oliart, C., Rihuete-Herrada, C., Rohrlach, A. B., Fregeiro, M. I., Childebayeva, A., . . . Haak, W. (2022). Kinship practices in the early state El Argar society from Bronze Age Iberia.. Scientific reports, 12(1), 15 pages.
DOI Scopus36 WoS31 Europe PMC15
2021 Rohrlach, A. B., Papac, L., Childebayeva, A., Rivollat, M., Villalba-Mouco, V., Neumann, G. U., . . . Haak, W. (2021). Using Y-chromosome capture enrichment to resolve haplogroup H2 shows new evidence for a two-Path Neolithic expansion to Western Europe. Scientific Reports, 11, 1-11.
DOI
2021 Borry, M., Hübner, A., Rohrlach, A. B., & Warinner, C. (2021). PyDamage: automated ancient damage identification and estimation for contigs in ancient DNA de novo assembly. PeerJ, 9, 22 pages.
DOI
2021 Purnomo, G. A., Mitchell, K. J., O'Connor, S., Kealy, S., Taufik, L., Schiller, S., . . . Tobler, R. (2021). Mitogenomes reveal two major influxes of Papuan ancestry across Wallacea following the last glacial maximum and Austronesian contact. Genes, 12(7), 1-21.
DOI Scopus24 WoS23 Europe PMC15
2021 Rohrlach, A. B., Papac, L., Childebayeva, A., Rivollat, M., Villalba-Mouco, V., Neumann, G. U., . . . Haak, W. (2021). Using Y-chromosome capture enrichment to resolve haplogroup H2 shows new evidence for a two-path Neolithic expansion to Western Europe. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 15005-1-15005-11.
DOI Scopus33 WoS32 Europe PMC30
2021 Borry, M., Hübner, A., Rohrlach, A. B., & Warinner, C. (2021). PyDamage: Automated ancient damage identification and estimation for contigs in ancient DNA de novo assembly. PeerJ, 9, 22 pages.
DOI Scopus29 WoS27 Europe PMC25
2021 Moilanen, U., Kirkinen, T., Saari, N. J., Rohrlach, A. B., Krause, J., Onkamo, P., & Salmela, E. (2021). A Woman with a Sword?-Weapon Grave at Suontaka Vesitorninmäki, Finland. European Journal of Archaeology, 25(1), 42-60.
DOI Scopus23 WoS17
2021 Papac, L., Ernée, M., Dobeš, M., Langová, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Aron, F., . . . Haak, W. (2021). Dynamic changes in genomic and social structures in third millennium BCE central Europe.. Sci Adv, 7(35), 1-17.
DOI Scopus80 WoS65 Europe PMC56
2021 Kocher, A., Papac, L., Barquera, R., Key, F. M., Spyrou, M. A., Hübler, R., . . . Kühnert, D. (2021). Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution. Science, 374(6564), 182-188.
DOI Scopus76 WoS67 Europe PMC60
2021 Villalba-Mouco, V., Oliart, C., Rihuete-Herrada, C., Childebayeva, A., Rohrlach, A. B., Fregeiro, M. I., . . . Haak, W. (2021). Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age-Bronze Age transition in southern Iberia.. Sci Adv, 7(47), eabi7038.
DOI Scopus49 WoS45 Europe PMC28
2020 Furtwängler, A., Rohrlach, A. B., Lamnidis, T. C., Papac, L., Neumann, G. U., Siebke, I., . . . Krause, J. (2020). Ancient genomes reveal social and genetic structure of Late Neolithic Switzerland.. Nature communications, 11(1), 1915.
DOI Scopus62 WoS64 Europe PMC47
2020 Skourtanioti, E., Erdal, Y. S., Frangipane, M., Balossi Restelli, F., Yener, K. A., Pinnock, F., . . . Krause, J. (2020). Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus.. Cell, 181(5), 1158-1175.
DOI Scopus106 WoS103 Europe PMC92
2020 Rivollat, M., Jeong, C., Schiffels, S., Küçükkalıpçı, İ., Pemonge, M. -H., Rohrlach, A. B., . . . Haak, W. (2020). Ancient genome-wide DNA from France highlights the complexity of interactions between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers. Science Advances, 6(22), eaaz5344-1-eaaz5344-16.
DOI Scopus119 WoS107 Europe PMC83
2020 Souilmi, Y., Tobler, R., Johar, A., Williams, M., Grey, S., Schmidt, J., . . . Cooper, A. (2020). Ancient human genomes reveal a hidden history of strong selection in Eurasia.
DOI Europe PMC1
2020 Rivollat, M., Jeong, C., Schiffels, S., Küçükkalıpçı, İ., Pemonge, M. -H., Rohrlach, A. B., . . . Haak, W. (2020). Ancient genome-wide DNA from France highlights the complexity of interactions between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers.. Sci Adv, 6(22).
DOI
2020 Furtwängler, A., Rohrlach, A., Lamnidis, T. C., Papac, L., Neumann, G. U., Siebke, I., . . . Krause, J. (2020). Author Correction: Ancient genomes reveal social and genetic structure of Late Neolithic Switzerland.. Nat Commun, 11(1), 4759.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2020 Parker, C., Rohrlach, A., Friederich, S., Nagel, S., Meyer, M., Krause, J., . . . Haak, W. (2020). A systematic investigation of human DNA preservation in medieval skeletons.. Sci Rep, 10(1), 18225.
DOI Scopus64 WoS56 Europe PMC42
2018 Rohrlach, A. B., Bean, N., Glonek, G., Holland, B., Tobler, R., Tuke, J., & Cooper, A. (2018). Unsupervized Quantification of Demographic Structure for Single-copy Alignments.
DOI
2017 Tobler, R., Rohrlach, A., Soubrier, J., Bover Arbos, P., Llamas, B., Tuke, J., . . . Cooper, A. (2017). Aboriginal mitogenomes reveal 50,000 years of regionalism in Australia. Nature, 544(7649), 180-184.
DOI Scopus167 WoS152 Europe PMC67
2016 Llamas, B., Fehren-Schmitz, L., Valverde, G., Soubrier, J., Mallick, S., Rohland, N., . . . Haak, W. (2016). Ancient mitochondrial DNA provides high-resolution time scale of the peopling of the Americas. Science Advances, 2(4), e1501385-1-e1501385-10.
DOI Scopus260 WoS238 Europe PMC144
2016 Soubrier, J., Gower, G., Chen, K., Richards, S., Llamas, B., Mitchell, K., . . . Cooper, A. (2016). Early cave art and ancient DNA record the origin of European bison. Nature Communications, 7(1), 13158-1-13158-7.
DOI Scopus87 WoS86 Europe PMC41
2015 Higgins, D., Rohrlach, A., Kaidonis, J., Townsend, G., & Austin, J. (2015). Differential nuclear and mitochondrial DNA preservation in post-mortem teeth with implications for forensic and ancient DNA studies. PLoS One, 10(5), e0126935-1-e0126935-17.
DOI Scopus71 WoS59 Europe PMC45

Year Citation
2024 Bove, L. C., Villalbamouco, V., Kirkpatrick, C. L., Rohrlach, A. B., Lamnidis, T., Guirado, A. V. -E., . . . Bos, K. (2024). An archaeogenetic and paleopathological evaluation of an early medieval Iberian community at La Olmeda (Spain, 6th-11th c. CE). In AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 183 (pp. 34). WILEY.

Year Citation
2025 Rohrlach, A., Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., Hofmanová, Z., Roughan, M., Haak, W., & Tuke, J. (2025). Detecting and Quantifying Networks of Biological Kinship via Exponential Family Random Graph Models.
DOI

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor A Study of Ancient Pandemics in Human History Based on Virus Interacting Protein Genes Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Huize Gao

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2018 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Exploring the Matrilineal Genomic History of Aboriginal Australians through Mitochondrial DNA Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Sophie Anne Schiller

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