biostudies-literatureLira Garrido JEuropean Research CouncilEC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020)7098https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12317975biostudies-literatureUnknown16(1)Horses have inhabited Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal) since the Middle Pleistocene, shaping a complex history in the region. Iberia has been proposed as a potential domestication centre and is renowned for producing world-class bloodlines. Here, we generate genome-wide sequence data from 87 ancient horse specimens (median coverage = 0.97X) from Iberia and the broader Mediterranean to reconstruct their genetic history over the last ~26,000 years. Here, we report that wild horses of the divergent IBE lineage inhabited Iberia from the Late Pleistocene, while domesticated DOM2 horses, native from the Pontic-Caspian steppes, already arrived ~1850 BCE. Admixture dating suggests breeding practices involving continued wild restocking until at least ~350 BCE, with IBE disappearing shortly aNature communicationsThe genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age.PMC12317975101062645 - ZEPHYRUS101071707 Synergy Grant Horsepower681605-PEGASUS681605101071707Calviere-Tonasso LDetry CChauvey LLira Garrido JPicazo Millan JVNieto Espinet AAlonso NGiralt JSeguin-Orlando AMoran MMartin PTressieres GDuran Caixal MGardeisen ASouthon JEstall I Poles VOntanon Peredo RLuis CShapiro BGarces Estallo IValenzuela Lamas SEsteve XBirgel JWagner SPrincipal JRodriguez Gonzalez EBover PValente MJRuiz Entrecanales RCupito MJimenez Fragoso JSchiavinato SMestres Santandreu IRodanes JMMaeir AMPaya XTecchiati UAlbizuri SPedro Pasqual MLiu XVerges JMTrentacoste APortero RPablos AFarre Huguet JOrsingher AAlfonso Llorens JCelestino SOrlando LArias PKolska Horwitz LCardoso JLBradley DGIborra Eres MPBataille CGrau EMiguelez Gonzalez AKhan NSala NAguilera IfalseThe genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age.Horses have inhabited Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal) since the Middle Pleistocene, shaping a complex history in the region. Iberia has been proposed as a potential domestication centre and is renowned for producing world-class bloodlines. Here, we generate genome-wide sequence data from 87 ancient horse specimens (median coverage = 0.97X) from Iberia and the broader Mediterranean to reconstruct their genetic history over the last ~26,000 years. Here, we report that wild horses of the divergent IBE lineage inhabited Iberia from the Late Pleistocene, while domesticated DOM2 horses, native from the Pontic-Caspian steppes, already arrived ~1850 BCE. Admixture dating suggests breeding practices involving continued wild restocking until at least ~350 BCE, with IBE disappearing shortly a2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Aug2026-07-15T06:47:56.478Z2025-08-27T03:07:24.828ZS-EPMC123179754075315410.1038/s41467-025-62266-z