Ancient DNA reveals traces of Iberian Neolithic and Bronze Age lineages in modern Iberian horses.
Abstract: Multiple geographical regions have been proposed for the domestication of Equus caballus. It has been suggested, based on zooarchaeological and genetic analyses that wild horses from the Iberian Peninsula were involved in the process, and the overrepresentation of mitochondrial D1 cluster in modern Iberian horses supports this suggestion. To test this hypothesis, we analysed mitochondrial DNA from 22 ancient Iberian horse remains belonging to the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, against previously published sequences. Only the medieval Iberian sequence appeared in the D1 group. Neolithic and Bronze Age sequences grouped in other clusters, one of which (Lusitano group C) is exclusively represented by modern horses of Iberian origin. Moreover, Bronze Age Iberian sequences displayed the lowest nucleotide diversity values when compared with modern horses, ancient wild horses and other ancient domesticates using nonparametric bootstrapping analyses. We conclude that the excessive clustering of Bronze Age horses in the Lusitano group C, the observed nucleotide diversity and the local continuity from wild Neolithic Iberian to modern Iberian horses, could be explained by the use of local wild mares during an early Iberian domestication or restocking event, whereas the D1 group probably was introduced into Iberia in later historical times.
Publication Date: 2009-11-25 PubMed ID: 19943892DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04430.xGoogle Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
This research paper investigates the origin of modern Iberian horses by analyzing ancient mitochondrial DNA samples. The study determines that local wild mares likely contributed to the domestication or restocking of horses in Iberia during early historical times, with certain genetic clusters being introduced later.
Understanding the Research Scope
- The research focuses on tracing the origin and domestication process of modern Iberian horses (Equus caballus) through genetic analyses.
- Based on zooarchaeological data and previous genetic analyses, it was proposed that wild horses from the Iberian Peninsula were part of the domestication process.
- The overrepresentation of the mitochondrial D1 cluster in modern Iberian horses was considered a support for this hypothesis.
Methodology
- To test this hypothesis, the researchers analyzed mitochondrial DNA from 22 ancient Iberian horse remains dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Middle Ages.
- This analysis involved comparisons with previously published sequences.
Findings
- The study’s findings reveal that only the medieval Iberian sequence was part of the D1 group.
- Sequences from the Neolithic and Bronze Age grouped in other clusters, one of which (Lusitano group C) is exclusively represented by modern horses of Iberian origin.
- The lowest nucleotide diversity values were shown in Bronze Age Iberian sequences when compared to modern horses, ancient wild horses, and other ancient domesticates.
Conclusion
- This data suggests that the extensive assortment of Bronze Age horses within the Lusitano group C, along with the observed nucleotide diversity and the local continuity from wild Neolithic Iberian horses to modern Iberian horses, could be attributed to the use of local wild mares in early Iberian horse domestication or restocking events.
- The D1 cluster was likely introduced to Iberia during later historical periods, which indicates an amalgamation of different horse populations over time.
Cite This Article
APA
Lira J, Linderholm A, Olaria C, Brandström Durling M, Gilbert MT, Ellegren H, Willerslev E, Lidén K, Arsuaga JL, Götherström A.
(2009).
Ancient DNA reveals traces of Iberian Neolithic and Bronze Age lineages in modern Iberian horses.
Mol Ecol, 19(1), 64-78.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04430.x Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029-Madrid, Spain. jlira@isciii.es
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Cluster Analysis
- DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
- Evolution, Molecular
- Genetic Variation
- Genetics, Population
- Geography
- Haplotypes
- Horses / genetics
- Phylogeny
- Population Density
- Sequence Alignment
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
- Spain
Citations
This article has been cited 20 times.- Ahlawat S, Sharma U, Niranjan SK, Chhabra P, Arora R, Sharma R, Singh KV, Vijh RK, Mehta SC. Unraveling the maternal heritage: identifying the complex origins of indigenous Indian horse and pony breeds through mitochondrial genome analysis. Mamm Genome 2025 Mar;36(1):118-128.
- Radovic L, Remer V, Rigler D, Bozlak E, Allen L, Brem G, Reissman M, Brockmann GA, Ropka-Molik K, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Kalinkova L, Kalashnikov VV, Zaitev AM, Raudsepp T, Castaneda C, von Butler-Wemken I, Patterson Rosa L, Brooks SA, Novoa-Bravo M, Kostaras N, Abdurasulov A, Antczak DF, Miller DC, Lopes MS, da Câmara Machado A, Lindgren G, Juras R, Cothran G, Wallner B. The global spread of Oriental Horses in the past 1,500 years through the lens of the Y chromosome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024 Dec 3;121(49):e2414408121.
- Cardinali I, Giontella A, Tommasi A, Silvestrelli M, Lancioni H. Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity. Genes (Basel) 2022 Dec 2;13(12).
- Delsol N, Stucky BJ, Oswald JA, Reitz EJ, Emery KF, Guralnick R. Analysis of the earliest complete mtDNA genome of a Caribbean colonial horse (Equus caballus) from 16th-century Haiti. PLoS One 2022;17(7):e0270600.
- Hong JH, Oh CS, Kim S, Kang IU, Shin DH. Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ancient Equus caballus bones found at archaeological site of Joseon dynasty period capital area. Anim Biosci 2022 Aug;35(8):1141-1150.
- Klecel W, Martyniuk E. From the Eurasian Steppes to the Roman Circuses: A Review of Early Development of Horse Breeding and Management. Animals (Basel) 2021 Jun 22;11(7).
- Guimaraes S, Arbuckle BS, Peters J, Adcock SE, Buitenhuis H, Chazin H, Manaseryan N, Uerpmann HP, Grange T, Geigl EM. Ancient DNA shows domestic horses were introduced in the southern Caucasus and Anatolia during the Bronze Age. Sci Adv 2020 Sep;6(38).
- Liu S, Yang Y, Pan Q, Sun Y, Ma H, Liu Y, Wang M, Zhao C, Wu C. Ancient Patrilineal Lines and Relatively High ECAY Diversity Preserved in Indigenous Horses Revealed With Novel Y-Chromosome Markers. Front Genet 2020;11:467.
- Fages A, Hanghøj K, Khan N, Gaunitz C, Seguin-Orlando A, Leonardi M, McCrory Constantz C, Gamba C, Al-Rasheid KAS, Albizuri S, Alfarhan AH, Allentoft M, Alquraishi S, Anthony D, Baimukhanov N, Barrett JH, Bayarsaikhan J, Benecke N, Bernáldez-Sánchez E, Berrocal-Rangel L, Biglari F, Boessenkool S, Boldgiv B, Brem G, Brown D, Burger J, Crubézy E, Daugnora L, Davoudi H, de Barros Damgaard P, de Los Ángeles de Chorro Y de Villa-Ceballos M, Deschler-Erb S, Detry C, Dill N, do Mar Oom M, Dohr A, Ellingvåg S, Erdenebaatar D, Fathi H, Felkel S, Fernández-Rodríguez C, García-Viñas E, Germonpré M, Granado JD, Hallsson JH, Hemmer H, Hofreiter M, Kasparov A, Khasanov M, Khazaeli R, Kosintsev P, Kristiansen K, Kubatbek T, Kuderna L, Kuznetsov P, Laleh H, Leonard JA, Lhuillier J, Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck C, Logvin A, Lõugas L, Ludwig A, Luis C, Arruda AM, Marques-Bonet T, Matoso Silva R, Merz V, Mijiddorj E, Miller BK, Monchalov O, Mohaseb FA, Morales A, Nieto-Espinet A, Nistelberger H, Onar V, Pálsdóttir AH, Pitulko V, Pitskhelauri K, Pruvost M, Rajic Sikanjic P, Rapan Papeša A, Roslyakova N, Sardari A, Sauer E, Schafberg R, Scheu A, Schibler J, Schlumbaum A, Serrand N, Serres-Armero A, Shapiro B, Sheikhi Seno S, Shevnina I, Shidrang S, Southon J, Star B, Sykes N, Taheri K, Taylor W, Teegen WR, Trbojević Vukičević T, Trixl S, Tumen D, Undrakhbold S, Usmanova E, Vahdati A, Valenzuela-Lamas S, Viegas C, Wallner B, Weinstock J, Zaibert V, Clavel B, Lepetz S, Mashkour M, Helgason A, Stefánsson K, Barrey E, Willerslev E, Outram AK, Librado P, Orlando L. Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series. Cell 2019 May 30;177(6):1419-1435.e31.
- Othman OE, Mahrous KF, Shafey HI. Mitochondrial DNA genetic variations among four horse populations in Egypt. J Genet Eng Biotechnol 2017 Dec;15(2):469-474.
- Yang L, Kong X, Yang S, Dong X, Yang J, Gou X, Zhang H. Haplotype diversity in mitochondrial DNA reveals the multiple origins of Tibetan horse. PLoS One 2018;13(7):e0201564.
- Leonardi M, Boschin F, Giampoudakis K, Beyer RM, Krapp M, Bendrey R, Sommer R, Boscato P, Manica A, Nogues-Bravo D, Orlando L. Late Quaternary horses in Eurasia in the face of climate and vegetation change. Sci Adv 2018 Jul;4(7):eaar5589.
- Csizmár N, Mihók S, Jávor A, Kusza S. Genetic analysis of the Hungarian draft horse population using partial mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequencing. PeerJ 2018;6:e4198.
- Librado P, Fages A, Gaunitz C, Leonardi M, Wagner S, Khan N, Hanghøj K, Alquraishi SA, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid KA, Der Sarkissian C, Schubert M, Orlando L. The Evolutionary Origin and Genetic Makeup of Domestic Horses. Genetics 2016 Oct;204(2):423-434.
- Petersen JL, Mickelson JR, Cothran EG, Andersson LS, Axelsson J, Bailey E, Bannasch D, Binns MM, Borges AS, Brama P, da Câmara Machado A, Distl O, Felicetti M, Fox-Clipsham L, Graves KT, Guérin G, Haase B, Hasegawa T, Hemmann K, Hill EW, Leeb T, Lindgren G, Lohi H, Lopes MS, McGivney BA, Mikko S, Orr N, Penedo MC, Piercy RJ, Raekallio M, Rieder S, Røed KH, Silvestrelli M, Swinburne J, Tozaki T, Vaudin M, M Wade C, McCue ME. Genetic diversity in the modern horse illustrated from genome-wide SNP data. PLoS One 2013;8(1):e54997.
- Achilli A, Olivieri A, Soares P, Lancioni H, Hooshiar Kashani B, Perego UA, Nergadze SG, Carossa V, Santagostino M, Capomaccio S, Felicetti M, Al-Achkar W, Penedo MC, Verini-Supplizi A, Houshmand M, Woodward SR, Semino O, Silvestrelli M, Giulotto E, Pereira L, Bandelt HJ, Torroni A. Mitochondrial genomes from modern horses reveal the major haplogroups that underwent domestication. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012 Feb 14;109(7):2449-54.
- Lippold S, Matzke NJ, Reissmann M, Hofreiter M. Whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of domestic horses reveals incorporation of extensive wild horse diversity during domestication. BMC Evol Biol 2011 Nov 14;11:328.
- Lippold S, Knapp M, Kuznetsova T, Leonard JA, Benecke N, Ludwig A, Rasmussen M, Cooper A, Weinstock J, Willerslev E, Shapiro B, Hofreiter M. Discovery of lost diversity of paternal horse lineages using ancient DNA. Nat Commun 2011 Aug 23;2:450.
- Warmuth V, Eriksson A, Bower MA, Cañon J, Cothran G, Distl O, Glowatzki-Mullis ML, Hunt H, Luís C, do Mar Oom M, Yupanqui IT, Ząbek T, Manica A. European domestic horses originated in two holocene refugia. PLoS One 2011 Mar 30;6(3):e18194.
- Cieslak M, Pruvost M, Benecke N, Hofreiter M, Morales A, Reissmann M, Ludwig A. Origin and history of mitochondrial DNA lineages in domestic horses. PLoS One 2010 Dec 20;5(12):e15311.
Use Nutrition Calculator
Check if your horse's diet meets their nutrition requirements with our easy-to-use tool Check your horse's diet with our easy-to-use tool
Talk to a Nutritionist
Discuss your horse's feeding plan with our experts over a free phone consultation Discuss your horse's diet over a phone consultation
Submit Diet Evaluation
Get a customized feeding plan for your horse formulated by our equine nutritionists Get a custom feeding plan formulated by our nutritionists
