8,000 years of wild and domestic animal body size data reveal long-term synchrony and recent divergence due to intensified human impact.

ABSTRACT: The long-term evolution of domestic mammal body size in Western Europe since the Early Neolithic is mainly attributed to human selection. However, the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors in animal body size evolution, and the coevolution of wild and domestic species remain poorly understood. In the Northwestern Mediterranean, abundant archaeozoological data from well-contextualized sites and reliable paleoenvironmental reconstructions provide a unique opportunity to explore long-term morphological changes and their drivers over time. This study analyzes 81,211 biometric measurements from 311 archaeological sites in Mediterranean France, spanning the past 8,000 y. It examines body size evolution in key wild (red deer, red fox, brown hare, rabbit) and domestic (shee

SUBMITTER: Mureau C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12435311 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature