The goat domestication process inferred from large-scale mitochondrial DNA analysis of wild and domestic individuals.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of farming during the Neolithic transition, including the domestication of livestock, was a critical point in the evolution of human kind. The goat (Capra hircus) was one of the first domesticated ungulates. In this study, we compared the genetic diversity of domestic goats to that of the modern representatives of their wild ancestor, the bezoar, by analyzing 473 samples collected over the whole distribution range of the latter species. This partly confirms and significantly clarifies the goat domestication scenario already proposed by archaeological evidence. All of the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups found in current domestic goats have also been found in the bezoar. The geographic distribution of these haplogroups in the wild ancestor allowed the localization of the main dom

SUBMITTER: Naderi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2584717 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature