The genomic natural history of the aurochs

Conor Rossi, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding (), Victoria E. Mullin, Amelie Scheu, Jolijn A. M. Erven, Marta Pereira Verdugo, Kevin G. Daly, Marta Maria Ciucani, Valeria Mattiangeli, Matthew D. Teasdale, Deborah Diquelou, Aurélie Manin, Pernille Bangsgaard, Matthew Collins, Tom C. Lord, Viktor Zeibert, Roberto Zorzin, Michael Vinter, Zena Timmons, Andrew C. Kitchener, Martin Street, Ashleigh F. Haruda, Kristina Tabbada, Greger Larson, Laurent A. F. Frantz, Birgit Gehlen, Francesca Alhaique, Antonio Tagliacozzo, Mariagabriella Fornasiero, Luca Pandolfi, Nadezhda Karastoyanova, Lasse Sørensen, Kirill Kiryushin, Jonas Ekström, Maria Mostadius, Aurora Grandal-d’Anglade, Amalia Vidal-Gorosquieta, Norbert Benecke, Claus Kropp, Sergei P. Grushin, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Ilja Merts, Viktor Merts, Alan K. Outram, Erika Rosengren, Pavel Kosintsev, Mikhail Sablin, Alexey A. Tishkin, Cheryl A. Makarewicz, Joachim Burger and Daniel G. Bradley ()
Additional contact information
Conor Rossi: Trinity College Dublin
Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding: University of Copenhagen
Victoria E. Mullin: Trinity College Dublin
Amelie Scheu: Trinity College Dublin
Jolijn A. M. Erven: Trinity College Dublin
Marta Pereira Verdugo: Trinity College Dublin
Kevin G. Daly: Trinity College Dublin
Marta Maria Ciucani: University of Copenhagen
Valeria Mattiangeli: Trinity College Dublin
Matthew D. Teasdale: Trinity College Dublin
Deborah Diquelou: Trinity College Dublin
Aurélie Manin: University of Oxford
Pernille Bangsgaard: University of Copenhagen
Matthew Collins: University of Copenhagen
Tom C. Lord: Independent researcher
Viktor Zeibert: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Roberto Zorzin: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona
Michael Vinter: Vendsyssel Historical Museum
Zena Timmons: National Museums Scotland
Andrew C. Kitchener: National Museums Scotland
Martin Street: Schloss Monrepos
Ashleigh F. Haruda: University of Oxford
Kristina Tabbada: University of Oxford
Greger Larson: University of Oxford
Laurent A. F. Frantz: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
Birgit Gehlen: University of Cologne
Francesca Alhaique: Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Antonio Tagliacozzo: Piazza Guglielmo Marconi
Mariagabriella Fornasiero: Museo della Natura e dell’ Uomo
Luca Pandolfi: Università di Pisa
Nadezhda Karastoyanova: National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Lasse Sørensen: National Museum of Denmark
Kirill Kiryushin: Altai State University
Jonas Ekström: Arkivcentrum Syd
Maria Mostadius: Arkivcentrum Syd
Aurora Grandal-d’Anglade: Universidade da Coruña (UDC)
Amalia Vidal-Gorosquieta: Universidade da Coruña (UDC)
Norbert Benecke: Central Department
Claus Kropp: UNESCO-Welterbestätte Kloster Lorsch
Sergei P. Grushin: Altai State University
M. Thomas P. Gilbert: University of Copenhagen
Ilja Merts: Joint Research Center for Archeological Studies
Viktor Merts: Joint Research Center for Archeological Studies
Alan K. Outram: University of Exeter
Erika Rosengren: Lund University
Pavel Kosintsev: Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Mikhail Sablin: Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Alexey A. Tishkin: Altai State University
Cheryl A. Makarewicz: Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, University of Kiel
Joachim Burger: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Daniel G. Bradley: Trinity College Dublin

Nature, 2024, vol. 635, issue 8037, 136-141

Abstract: Abstract Now extinct, the aurochs (Bos primigenius) was a keystone species in prehistoric Eurasian and North African ecosystems, and the progenitor of cattle (Bos taurus), domesticates that have provided people with food and labour for millennia1. Here we analysed 38 ancient genomes and found 4 distinct population ancestries in the aurochs—European, Southwest Asian, North Asian and South Asian—each of which has dynamic trajectories that have responded to changes in climate and human influence. Similarly to Homo heidelbergensis, aurochsen first entered Europe around 650 thousand years ago2, but early populations left only trace ancestry, with both North Asian and European B. primigenius genomes coalescing during the most recent glaciation. North Asian and European populations then appear separated until mixing after the climate amelioration of the early Holocene. European aurochsen endured the more severe bottleneck during the Last Glacial Maximum, retreating to southern refugia before recolonizing from Iberia. Domestication involved the capture of a small number of individuals from the Southwest Asian aurochs population, followed by early and pervasive male-mediated admixture involving each ancestral strain of aurochs after domestic stocks dispersed beyond their cradle of origin.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08112-6

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