DOCSLIB.ORG

Zebus and Indian Wild Cattle

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Zebus and Indian Wild Cattle 647 ZEBUS AND INDIAN WILD CATTLE Sandor BÔKÔNYit Summary Résumé Zusammenfassung The zebus represent a special group Zébus et bovins sauvages d'Inde. Zebu und indisches Wildrind. of domesticated cattle that is character­ Les zébus représentent un groupe Die Zebus repriisentieren eine speziel­ ized by its elongated, very narrow skull, particulier de bovins domestiques carac­ le Gruppe der Hausrinder, die durch peculiar horn form, cervico-thoracic or térisé par un crâne allongé et très étroit, einen verliingerten, schmalen Schiidel, thoracic hump, spinae bifidae on certain une forme particulière des cornes, la pré­ eine eigenartige Hornform, einen cervi­ thoracic vertebrae, drooping rump, and sence d'une bosse cervico-thoracique ou calen oder thoracalen Buckel,gespaltete a leggy conformation with long, slender thoracique, des apophyses épineuses Dornfortsiitze (spinae bifidae) bestimmter metapodials. bifides pour certaines vertèbres dorsales, Brustwirbel, einen muskelarmen Rumpf As the wild form of zebus, the Indian une croupe tombante et des membres und lange Beine mit besonders langen wild cattle (Bos primigenius namadicus) longs avec des métapodes élancés. und schlanken Metapodien charakteri­ can be taken into consideration. The Pour trouver l'ancêtre des zébus, il siert wird. area of distribution of namadicus wild convient d'examiner le bœuf sauvage Heutzutage sind die meiste Autoren cattle extends to the dry parts of India d'Inde (Bos primigenius namadicus). Son darin einig, daj3 der wilde Ahne der and possibly to Southeast Asia, and their aire de répartition s'étend aux régions Zebus nur die indische Unterart des Ures westernmost limits are the Great Salt plus sèches de l'Inde et peut-être de (Bos primigenius namadicus) sein kann. and Lut Deserts of Iran, particularly l'Asie du Sud-Est, et sa limite occidentale Das Verbreitungsgebiet des indischen their eastern borderlands. se situe sur les bordures est du Grand Wildrindes erstre sich neben den trocke­ Lately, a Chalcolithic-Bronze Age site Désert Salé et du Désert de Lut, en Iran. nen Teilen Indiens wahrscheinlich auch of Iranian Sistan (Shahr-i Sokhta) pro­ Récemment, un site daté du Chalcoli­ auf Südostasien und seine westlichen duced good evidence of the occurrence thique et de l'Âge du Bronze du Sistan Ausliiufer waren in der Grossen Salzwü• and local domestication of Indian wild iranien (Shahr-i Sokhta) a livré de bons ste bzw. in der Lut-Wüste Irans zufinden. cattle through characteristic, flattened, arguments pour la présence et la domesti­ Neuestens hat man eine chalcolit­ keeled horn cores and the presence of cation locale du bœuf sauvage d'Inde, hisch-bronzezeitliche Siedlung (Shahr-i domestic zebus by figurines, bifid verte­ sous la forme de chevilles osseuses caré­ Sokhta) im nordost-iranischen Sistan aus­ brae and the relative length and slender­ nées et aplaties, de figurines de zébus geg raben. Dieser Fundort hat gutes ness of distal extremity fragments. domestiques, d'apophyses vertébrales Beweismaterial für das Vorkommen und Obviously, zebu domestication hap­ bifides et d'éléments osseux des extrémi­ die ortliche Domestikation des indischen pened in the Neolithic of the Jndian tés élancés. Wildrindes in Form von: seinen charac­ Peninsula as well, the earliest attempt Il est clair que la domestication du teristischen, gekielten Hornzapfen und für took place by our most recent knowledge zébu a eu lieu au Néolithique dans la das Vorkommen von domestizierten in Mehrgarh, Middle Pakistan. Péninsule indienne, la plus ancienne Buckelrindern durch Figurinen, bifide Nevertheless, in India, taurine and attestation venant des récentes décou­ Dornfortsiitze bzw. durch lange und humped cattle coexisted very well, though vertes de Mehrgarh (Pakistan). Des schlanke Metapodien geliefert. the swift-legged zebus had an advance as bovins de type taurin et de type zébu ont Die früheste Zebu-Domestikation hat draught animals ofpeasant households. cependant très bien coexisté en Inde, en auf der Indischen Halbinsel in der lung­ Zebus reached Mesopotamia in the dépit du fait que les zébus, plus rapides, steinzeit stattgefunden, die frühesten 5th millennium be and Africa through étaient préférés par les fermiers pour la domestizierten Zebu-Rinder gehen bis southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa traction. 6 000 B.C. in Mehrgarh, Mittel-Pakistan in the early 2"d millennium be, and a lit­ Les zébus ont atteint la Mésopotamie zurück. Domestizierte taurine und Zebu­ tle later via the Levant as well. Thev au Ve millénaire be et ont gagné l'Afrique Rinder lebten gut zusammen, jedenfalls arrived in Europe quite late, in the tim~ au début du Ile millénaire av. 1.-C., en waren die Buckelrinder schnellere Zug­ of the Roman Empire. passant par l'Arabie et la Corne de tiere als die taurinen Rinder und das l'Afrique et, un peu plus tard, par le bedeute einen Vorteil in einer Region, wo Levant. Ils ont fait une apparition plus Ochsen auch bis heute die wichtigsten tardive en Europe, avec l'Empire romain. Zugtiere der Bauernwirtschaften sind. Buckelrinder haben Mesopotamien shon im 5. Jahrt. v. Chr. erreicht, in Afri­ ka sind sie doch erst am Anfang des 2. Jahrt. v. Chr. durch Südarabien und das Horn von Afrika und ein bisschen spiiter auch durch den Levant angekommen. Die frühesten Zebus sind in Europa * clo Dr. L. Bartosiewicz, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Lorand Eotvos viel spiiter, erst in der Periode des Romi­ University, 1088 Muzeum krt. 418, Budapest, Hungary. schen Reiches erschienen. ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA. 1997. N° 25-26 648 Key Words Mots clés Schlüsselworte Zebu, Iran, Cattle, Aurochs. Zébu, Iran, Bovin, Aurochs. Zebu, Iran, Hausrinder, Ur. The zebus make out a considerable part of domestic to 4'h century AD Roman site of Britain and by the author cattle. They prefer hot and arid climates; nevertheless, arid­ from the Late Neolithic of Southwest France, thus from ity is more essential for them than heat, a fact that enables regions where the occurence of zebus or their crossings them to survive in arid plains of Central Asia that are hot were quite improbable in the given time periods. only in summer time whereas they can have cruelly low An original idea was suggested by Mason (1963: 18). winter temperatures. According to him, the hump mostly along with the long Their original homeland is the southern half of Asia, horns and the envelopped dewlaps is a product of deliber­ from where they first penetrated neighboring territories and ate selection by man. As he explains, the early cattle breed­ they became widespred in remote areas such as Africa and ers breeding their sacred bulls wanted the most imposing, the southern fringes of Central Asia. In modern times they the most "bullish" bulls as possible. Since the hump is pri­ were carried over to further continents (North and South marily a secondary sexual character, its size being larger in America and Australia) as well, and they have been feeling bulls than in cows, this fact a!so drew the breeders' atten­ well and were consequently breeding successfully both in a tion, resulting in a selection toward this direction. purebred form and also in crossings in their new homelands. The zebu skull is very elongated and narrow. This is The zebus' main and foremost distinguishing charac­ particularly so in the aboral part of the frontal region show­ teristic is that they are humped. The zebu hump is not ing a very narrow intercornual ridge between the horn equivalent with the hump of the came!, the fat rump of the cores. The forehead is commonly convex, particularly in short-tailed sheep or the fat-tail of the long-tailed sheep. bulls and oxen, Jess in cows. As Epstein (1971: 198) points Whereas the latter are simple fat accumulations, the hump out "the typical zebu skull is remarkable for its Jack of ele­ of the zebu can be regarded as an enlarged muscle, how­ vations and cavities". The highest point of a zebu skull can ever, it is a!so possible that the zebu's hump contains some generally be found right behind its eye sockets. The latters fat as well; this could be even an adaptation to a climate are Jess protruding than those of taurine cattle and are situ­ with a marked seasonal difference (Slijper, 1951, 6ff.) ated more outwards and Jess forwards. Another interesting In agreement with Curson and Bisschop (1935: 18), zebu feature is the absence or at least the reduction of Epstein (1971: 328) classified the zebu humps according to supra-orbital ridges. The horns vary in size and form. Both cervico-thoracic or thoracic body regions, and according to long-horned and short-horned zebus exist and hornless ani­ muscular structure and fatty. Zebu sometimes have divided mais also occur. Their horn form basically differs from that humps. Epstein found artistic representations of such zebus of the taurine cattle: their typical direction is lateral or from Susa, 3000 be (Epstein, 1971: 508) and from Elam upright with a backward tendency (this is the so-called (Epstein, 1971 : 510, fig. 607), nevertheless, it is not certain "auchenokeratos" type) and in profile they are well behind that such divided humps can osteologically be determined. the plane of the face. These features of the horns were Mason (1963: 17) suggests that the hump is a product observed already by Rütimeyer (1878: 47) who a!so of domestication. In his opinion it would be impossible to stressed the vaulting of the forehead in ail directions that determine from fossil (and also subfossil) skeletal remains can particularly well be seen on skulls of zebu oxen. whether a hump was already present in the zebu' s wild Nevertheless, the presence of hump and the special skull ancestors. This is certainly true, nevertheless only the pres­ and horn forms are not the only features that identify zebus. ence or absence of bifid vertebrae would help us to decide The general slenderness of the long bones of the extremities, this question.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Genomic Divergence of Zebu and Taurine Cattle Identified Through High-Density SNP Genotyping
    Porto-Neto et al. BMC Genomics 2013, 14:876 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/14/876 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Genomic divergence of zebu and taurine cattle identified through high-density SNP genotyping Laercio R Porto-Neto1,2,6*, Tad S Sonstegard3*, George E Liu3, Derek M Bickhart3, Marcos VB Da Silva5, Marco A Machado5, Yuri T Utsunomiya4, Jose F Garcia4, Cedric Gondro2 and Curtis P Van Tassell3 Abstract Background: Natural selection has molded evolution across all taxa. At an arguable date of around 330,000 years ago there were already at least two different types of cattle that became ancestors of nearly all modern cattle, the Bos taurus taurus more adapted to temperate climates and the tropically adapted Bos taurus indicus. After domestication, human selection exponentially intensified these differences. To better understand the genetic differences between these subspecies and detect genomic regions potentially under divergent selection, animals from the International Bovine HapMap Experiment were genotyped for over 770,000 SNP across the genome and compared using smoothed FST. The taurine sample was represented by ten breeds and the contrasting zebu cohort by three breeds. Results: Each cattle group evidenced similar numbers of polymorphic markers well distributed across the genome. Principal components analyses and unsupervised clustering confirmed the well-characterized main division of do- mestic cattle. The top 1% smoothed FST, potentially associated to positive selection, contained 48 genomic regions across 17 chromosomes. Nearly half of the top FST signals (n = 22) were previously detected using a lower density SNP assay. Amongst the strongest signals were the BTA7:~50 Mb and BTA14:~25 Mb; both regions harboring candi- date genes and different patterns of linkage disequilibrium that potentially represent intrinsic differences between cattle types.
    [Show full text]
  • Paleogenomics of Animal Domestication
    Paleogenomics of Animal Domestication Evan K. Irving-Pease, Hannah Ryan, Alexandra Jamieson, Evangelos A. Dimopoulos, Greger Larson, and Laurent A. F. Frantz Abstract Starting with dogs, over 15,000 years ago, the domestication of animals has been central in the development of modern societies. Because of its importance for a range of disciplines – including archaeology, biology and the humanities – domestication has been studied extensively. This chapter reviews how the field of paleogenomics has revolutionised, and will continue to revolutionise, our under- standing of animal domestication. We discuss how the recovery of ancient DNA from archaeological remains is allowing researchers to overcome inherent shortcom- ings arising from the analysis of modern DNA alone. In particular, we show how DNA, extracted from ancient substrates, has proven to be a crucial source of information to reconstruct the geographic and temporal origin of domestic species. We also discuss how ancient DNA is being used by geneticists and archaeologists to directly observe evolutionary changes linked to artificial and natural selection to generate a richer understanding of this fascinating process. Keywords Ancient DNA · Archaeology · Domestication · Entomology · Evolution · Genomics · Zoology E. K. Irving-Pease (*) · H. Ryan · A. Jamieson · E. A. Dimopoulos · G. Larson The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK e-mail: [email protected] L. A. F. Frantz (*) The Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] Charlotte Lindqvist and Om P.
    [Show full text]
  • Genetics and Animal Domestication: New Windows on an Elusive Process K
    Journal of Zoology. Print ISSN 0952-8369 Genetics and animal domestication: new windows on an elusive process K. Dobney1 & G. Larson2 1 Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham, UK 2 Department of Zoology, Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre, University of Oxford, UK Keywords Abstract domestication; genetics; phylogeography; molecular clocks; paedomorphosis. Domesticated animals are universally familiar. How, when, where and why they became domesticated is less well understood. The genetic revolution of the past few Correspondence decades has facilitated novel insights into a field that previously was principally the Greger Larson, Department of Zoology, domain of archaeozoologists. Although some of the conclusions drawn from Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules genetic data have proved to be contentious, many studies have significantly altered Centre, University of Oxford, South Parks or refined our understanding of past human animal relationships. This review Road OX1 3PS, UK seeks not only to discuss the wider concerns and ramifications of genetic Email: [email protected] approaches to the study of animal domestication but also to provide a broader theoretical framework for understanding the process itself. More specifically, we Received 6 July 2005; accepted 8 September discuss issues related to the terminology associated with domestication, the 2005 possibility of domestication genes, and the promise and problems of genetics to answer the fundamental questions associated with domestication. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00042.x Introduction Defining domestication Over the past 10 000 years, human history has been wholly Terminology typically used in domestication studies, including transformed by the domestication of plants and animals. the word ‘domestication’ itself, is often confusing and poorly Although the term ‘domestic animal’ has universal meaning, defined.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking Dog Domestication by Integrating Genetics, Archeology, and Biogeography
    Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography Greger Larsona,1, Elinor K. Karlssonb,c, Angela Perria, Matthew T. Webster d,SimonY.W.Hoe, Joris Petersf, Peter W. Stahl g, Philip J. Piperh,i, Frode Lingaasj, Merete Fredholmk, Kenine E. Comstockl, Jaime F. Modianom,n, Claude Schellingo, Alexander I. Agoulnikp, Peter A. Leegwaterq, Keith Dobneyr, Jean-Denis Vignes, Carles Vilàt, Leif Anderssond,u, and Kerstin Lindblad-Tohb,d aDurham Evolution and Ancient DNA, Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom; bBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge MA 02142; cFaculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138; dScience for Life Laboratory Uppsala, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden; eSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia; fVeterinary Sciences Department, Institute of Palaeoanatomy, Domestication Research and the History of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilian University, 80539 Munich, Germany; gDepartment of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2; hSchool of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 200, Australia; iArchaeological Studies Program, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines; jDepartment of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Division of Genetics, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science,
    [Show full text]
  • Detecting Sex and Selection in Ancient Cattle Remains Using
    !! ! " # $ %&'%(&)% $ * +(+%(''()%(& , - ,,, .(%)/)&% ! " # $% % %&%%' ' ' ( )* + ) , -)$% %) , , . / , ( ). ) 0!1)22 ) )3,40154 566!501$ 52) . %%%% + + + ). ++ ' )* 2$0 ' 7 + )" + + ' ' ). + 4 ' ' ' '+ / + ) * ' + '' ) 5 8 ' 9 . 3 '' : + $%%%%51%%%% + + ).9 ,( + + '8 ' ' ) * + 7 )3 ,( + + + ' )* ' + +' ' 4 ) .,( 8 ! !" ! # !$ %&'( ! !)*+,-. ! ;-, $% % 3,, 26 52$ ! 3,40154 566!501$ 52 & &&& 5 $<$2 = &>> )7)> ? @ & &&& 5 $<$2 A Till mamma Art work on front page by Lotta Tomasson List of Papers This thesis is based on the following papers, which are referred to in the text by their Roman numerals. I Svensson, E.M., Axelsson, E., Vretemark, M., Makowiecki, D., Gilbert, M.T.P., Willerslev, E., Götherström, A. Insights into Y chromosomal genetic variation and effective population size in the extinct European aurochs Bos primigenius. Manuscript II Svensson, E., Götherström, A., (2008) Temporal fluctuations of Y-chromosomal variation in Bos taurus. Biology Letters, 4(6):752-754 III Svensson, E.M., Götherström, A., Vretemark, M. (2008) A DNA test for sex identification in cattle confirms osteometric results. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(4):942-946 IV Telldahl, Y., Svensson, E.M., Götherström, A., Storå, J.
    [Show full text]
  • Characterisation of the Cattle, Buffalo and Chicken Populations in the Northern Vietnamese Province of Ha Giang Cécile Berthouly
    Characterisation of the cattle, buffalo and chicken populations in the northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang Cécile Berthouly To cite this version: Cécile Berthouly. Characterisation of the cattle, buffalo and chicken populations in the northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang. Life Sciences [q-bio]. AgroParisTech, 2008. English. NNT : 2008AGPT0031. pastel-00003992 HAL Id: pastel-00003992 https://pastel.archives-ouvertes.fr/pastel-00003992 Submitted on 16 Jun 2009 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Agriculture, UFR Génétique, UMR 1236 Génétique Alimentation, Biologie, Biodiva project UR 22 Faune Sauvage Elevage et Reproduction et Diversité Animales Environnement, Santé Thesis to obtain the degree DOCTEUR D’AGROPARISTECH Field: Animal Genetics presented and defended by Cécile BERTHOULY on May 23rd, 2008 Characterisation of the cattle, buffalo and chicken populations in the Northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang Supervisors: Jean-Charles MAILLARD and Etienne VERRIER Committee Steffen WEIGEND Senior scientist, Federal Agricultural
    [Show full text]
  • Animal Domestication in the Era of Ancient Genomics Laurent Frantz, Daniel Bradley, Greger Larson, Ludovic Orlando
    Animal domestication in the era of ancient genomics Laurent Frantz, Daniel Bradley, Greger Larson, Ludovic Orlando To cite this version: Laurent Frantz, Daniel Bradley, Greger Larson, Ludovic Orlando. Animal domestication in the era of ancient genomics. Nature Reviews Genetics, Nature Publishing Group, 2020, 21 (8), pp.449-460. 10.1038/s41576-020-0225-0. hal-03030302 HAL Id: hal-03030302 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03030302 Submitted on 30 Nov 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Animal domestication in the era of ancient genomics Laurent A. F. Frantz1†, Daniel G. Bradley2, Greger Larson3 and Ludovic Orlando4,5† 1 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK. 2 Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 3 The Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. 4 Laboratoire d’Anthropobiologie Moléculaire et d’Imagerie de Synthèse, CNRS UMR 5288, Université de Toulouse,
    [Show full text]
  • Genetic Variation of Mitochondrial DNA Within Domestic Yak Populations J.F
    Genetic variation of mitochondrial DNA within domestic yak populations J.F. Bailey,1 B. Healy,1 H. Jianlin,2 L. Sherchand,3 S.L. Pradhan,4 T. Tsendsuren,5 J.M. Foggin,6 C. Gaillard,7 D. Steane,8 I. Zakharov 9 and D.G. Bradley1 1. Department of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland 2. Department of Animal Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, P.R. China 3. Livestock Production Division, Department of Livestock Services, Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk, Nepal 4. Resource Development Advisor, Nepal–Australia Community Resource Management Project, Kathmandu, Nepal 5. Institute of Biology, Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia 6. Department of Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–1501 USA 7. Institute of Animal Breeding, University of Berne, Bremgarten-strasse 109a, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland 8. FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand 9. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkin str., 3, 117809 GSP-1, Moscow B-333, Russia Summary Yak (Bos grunniens) are members of the Artiodactyla, family Bovidae, genus Bos. Wild yak are first observed at Pleistocene levels of the fossil record. We believed that they, together with the closely related species of Bos taurus, B. indicus and Bison bison, resulted from a rapid radiation of the genus towards the end of the Miocene. Today domestic yak live a fragile existence in a harsh environment. Their fitness for this environment is vital to their survival and to the millions of pastoralists who depend upon them.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparative Genomic Evidence for Self-Domestication in Homo Sapiens
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/125799; this version posted April 9, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Comparative genomic evidence for self-domestication in Homo sapiens Constantina Theofanopoulou1,2,a, Simone Gastaldon1,a, Thomas O’Rourke1, Bridget D. Samuels3, Angela Messner1, Pedro Tiago Martins1, Francesco Delogu4, Saleh Alamri1, and Cedric Boeckx1,2,5,b 1Section of General Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona 2Universitat de Barcelona Institute for Complex Systems 3Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California 4Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) 5ICREA aThese authors contributed equally to this work bCorresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT This study identifies and analyzes statistically significant overlaps between selective sweep screens in anatomically modern humans and several domesticated species. The results obtained suggest that (paleo-)genomic data can be exploited to complement the fossil record and support the idea of self-domestication in Homo sapiens, a process that likely intensified as our species populated its niche. Our analysis lends support to attempts to capture the “domestication syndrome” in terms of alterations to certain signaling pathways and cell lineages, such as the neural crest. Introduction Recent advances in genomics, coupled with other sources of information, offer new opportunities to test long-standing hypotheses about human evolution. Especially in the domain of cognition, the retrieval of ancient DNA could, with the help of well-articulated linking hypotheses connecting genes, brain and cognition, shed light on the emergence of ‘cognitive modernity’.
    [Show full text]
  • Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned Into Travels Through Time and Space
    Freedman, J and Evans, J 2015 Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned into Travels Through Time and Space. Open Quaternary, 1: 8, pp. 1–14, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/oq.ah ENGAGEMENT PAPER Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned into Travels Through Time and Space Jan Freedman* and Jane Evans† This article has been corrected here: Museum enquiries offer a unique opportunity to engage on a one-to-one level with members of the pub- lic. This paper covers an unusual enquiry from 2013 of an unknown tooth that was brought into Plym- outh City Museum and Art Gallery for identification. We highlight how museum enquiries can engage with members of the public by involving them directly with original scientific research. The tooth was found in a garden in Plymouth with no associated data of about where it originated. We identified the tooth, and the enquirer researched the history of the house. The tooth gave the appearance of a sub-fossil so with the large number of Quaternary sites in Plymouth, together with the identifica- tion of the previous owner on the site, there were valid reasons to undertake testing of the tooth to determine its origin. Strontium (Sr) isotope analysis of the tooth was carried out to determine if the tooth was British and radiocarbon dating was undertaken to work out the age of the tooth. The 87Sr /86Sr of the leopard tooth gave a value of 0.716131, with Sr concentrations at 568ppm. This is a high concentration of Sr ppm relative to other British data, suggesting a non-British origin.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia
    World Heritage papers41 HEADWORLD HERITAGES 4 Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia VOLUME I In support of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations United Nations [ Cultural Organization Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia Nuria Sanz, Editor General Coordinator of HEADS Programme on Human Evolution HEADS 4 VOLUME I Published in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France and the UNESCO Office in Mexico, Presidente Masaryk 526, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de Mexico, D.F., Mexico. © UNESCO 2015 ISBN 978-92-3-100107-9 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover Photos: Top: Hohle Fels excavation. © Harry Vetter bottom (from left to right): Petroglyphs from Sikachi-Alyan rock art site.
    [Show full text]
  • Aurochs Genetics, a Cornerstone of European Biodiversity
    Aurochs genetics, a cornerstone of European biodiversity Picture: Manolo Uno (c) Staffan Widstrand Authors: • drs. Ronald Goderie (Taurus Foundation); • dr. Johannes A. Lenstra (Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine); • Maulik Upadhyay (pHD Wageningen University); • dr. Richard Crooijmans (Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University); • ir. Leo Linnartz (Ark Nature) Summary of: Aurochs Genetics, a cornerstone of biodiversity Preface In 2015 a report is written on Aurochs genetics, made possible by a grant from the Dutch Liberty Wildlife fund. This fund provided the Taurus foundation with a grant of EUR 20.000 to conduct genetic research on aurochs and its relation with nowadays so- called ‘primitive’ breeds. This is the summary of that report. This summary shortly describes the current state of affairs, what we do know early 2015 about the aurochs, about domestic cattle and the relationship of aurochs and the primitive breeds used in the Tauros Programme. Nijmegen, December 2015. page 2 Summary of: Aurochs Genetics, a cornerstone of biodiversity Table of contents Preface 2 Table of contents ......................................................................................................... 3 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 6 2 Aurochs: a short description .................................................................................
    [Show full text]