Incorporation of aurochs into a cattle herd in Neolithic Europe: single event or breeding?

ABSTRACT: Domestication is an ongoing process continuously changing the lives of animals and humans and the environment. For the majority of European cattle (Bos taurus) genetic and archaeozoological evidence support initial domestication ca. 11'000 BP in the Near East from few founder aurochs (Bos primigenius) belonging to the mitochondrial DNA T macro-haplogroup. Gene flow between wild European aurochs of P haplogroup and domestic cattle of T haplogroup, coexisting over thousands of years, appears to have been sporadic. We report archaeozoological and ancient DNA evidence for the incorporation of wild stock into a domestic cattle herd from a Neolithic lake-dwelling in Switzerland. A complete metacarpus of a small and compact adult bovid is morphologically and genetically a female. With withers hei

SUBMITTER: Schibler J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4107343 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature