The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time series

Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time series
Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time series
Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date, including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (≥1-fold coverage), 87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range (Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia. Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN “speed gene,” only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management.
ancient DNA, domestication, animal breeding, horses, mules, extinct lineages, selection, equestrian civilizations
0092-8674
1419-1435.e31
Fages, Antoine
13673cfb-d00a-4275-b45d-63c647449696
Hanghoj, Kristian
cf1dfe4d-44b1-4683-9621-4a83c231b99c
Khan, Naveed
72fc7c82-a110-47c6-9d22-2ecd654b8181
Gaunitz, Charleene
fcfd4f7d-d7bc-4e9f-a367-5db22f8f3118
Weinstock, Jacobo
edcdb255-f6d0-4a66-8c47-28b70d79896e
Willerslev, Eske
3815b419-7ba2-4827-a7a7-e97dd7118ee6
Orlando, Ludovic
e04542c6-d310-4c3e-aaf0-b1679b723fe0
et al.
Fages, Antoine
13673cfb-d00a-4275-b45d-63c647449696
Hanghoj, Kristian
cf1dfe4d-44b1-4683-9621-4a83c231b99c
Khan, Naveed
72fc7c82-a110-47c6-9d22-2ecd654b8181
Gaunitz, Charleene
fcfd4f7d-d7bc-4e9f-a367-5db22f8f3118
Weinstock, Jacobo
edcdb255-f6d0-4a66-8c47-28b70d79896e
Willerslev, Eske
3815b419-7ba2-4827-a7a7-e97dd7118ee6
Orlando, Ludovic
e04542c6-d310-4c3e-aaf0-b1679b723fe0

et al. (2019) Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time series. Cell, 177 (6), 1419-1435.e31. (doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.049).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date, including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (≥1-fold coverage), 87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range (Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia. Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN “speed gene,” only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management.

Text
1-s2.0-S0092867419303848-main - Proof
Download (4MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 27 March 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 May 2019
Published date: 30 May 2019
Keywords: ancient DNA, domestication, animal breeding, horses, mules, extinct lineages, selection, equestrian civilizations

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 430730
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/430730
ISSN: 0092-8674
PURE UUID: 85dfd305-0331-47a7-92cf-89dc4bc72e50

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 May 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 01:39

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Antoine Fages
Author: Kristian Hanghoj
Author: Naveed Khan
Author: Charleene Gaunitz
Author: Eske Willerslev
Author: Ludovic Orlando
Corporate Author: et al.

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×