The genetic prehistory of domesticated cattle from their origin to the spread across Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cattle domestication started in the 9(th) millennium BC in Southwest Asia. Domesticated cattle were then introduced into Europe during the Neolithic transition. However, the scarcity of palaeogenetic data from the first European domesticated cattle still inhibits the accurate reconstruction of their early demography. In this study, mitochondrial DNA from 193 ancient and 597 modern domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) from sites across Europe, Western Anatolia and Iran were analysed to provide insight into the Neolithic dispersal process and the role of the local European aurochs population during cattle domestication.

Results

Using descriptive summary statistics and serial coalescent simulations paired with approximate Bayesian computation we find: (i) decreasing gene

SUBMITTER: Scheu A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4445560 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature