Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep

Kevin G. Daly, Victoria E. Mullin, Andrew J. Hare, Áine Halpin, Valeria Mattiangeli, Matthew D. Teasdale, Conor Rossi, Sheila Geiger, Stefan Krebs, Ivica Medugorac, Edson Sandoval-Castellanos, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Güneş Duru, Sevil Gülcür, Nadja Pöllath, Matthew Collins, Laurent Frantz, Emmanuelle Vila, Peter Zidarov, Simon StoddartBazartseren Boldgiv, Ludovic Orlando, Mike Parker Pearson, Jacqui Mullville, Igor V. Askeyev, Arthur O. Askeyev, Oleg V. Askeyev, Dilyara N. Shaymuratova, Youri Van den Hurk, Andrea Zeeb-Lanz, Rose Marie Arbogast, Helmut Hemmer, Hossein Davoudi, Sarieh Amiri, Sanaz Beizaee Doost, Delphine Decruyenaere, Homa Fathi, Roya Khazaeli, Yousef Hassanzadeh, Alireza Sardari, Johanna Lhuillier, Mostafa Abdolahi, Geoffrey D. Summers, Catherine Marro, Veli Bahshaliyev, Rémi Berthon, Canan Çakirlar, Norbert Benecke, Amelie Scheu, Joachim Burger, Eberhard Sauer, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Benjamin Arbuckle, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Lionel Gourichon, Jelena Bulatović, Terry O'Connor, David Orton, Mindia Jalabadze, Stephen Rhodes, Michael Chazan, Vecihi Özkaya, Melinda Zeder, Levent Atıcı, Marjan Mashkour, Joris Peters, Daniel G. Bradley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central Türkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from Türkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe-related ancestry in the Bronze Age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)492-497
Number of pages6
JournalScience (New York, N.Y.)
Volume387
Issue number6733
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2025

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