Modern domestic horses’ homeland in southwestern Russia
Much of human history was made astride, or beside, a horse. The animal’s stolid speed and strength powered massive migrations of people, pulled plows that transformed agriculture and revolutionized warfare. Now, researchers have pinpointed where and when horse and human history became intertwined.
Ancient DNA reveals that the modern domestic horse originated on the vast landscape of what is now southwestern Russia more than 4,200 years ago, researchers report October 20 in Nature.
In just a few centuries, these horses’ descendants spread quickly across Eurasia, supplanting almost all previous wild horse populations.
Hypotheses abounded for where modern horses were domesticated, ranging from Iberia to modern-day Kazakhstan (SN: 2/22/18), says Ludovic Orlando, a molecular archaeologist at the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse in France.
“It’s been debated and debated and debated,” he says, “but there was nothing like a smoking gun.”
Orlando and colleagues analyzed ancient DNA from 273 horse bone specimens from across the continents, spanning 50,000 years of human and equine history.
For most of that time, genetically varied wild horse populations were scattered across Eurasia.
But starting around 2000 B.C., that variation vanished. By 1500–1000 B.C., domestic horses from Spain to Mongolia all descended from the same population, which the researchers traced back to more than 4,200-year-old specimens dug up on the Pontic-Caspian steppe, north of the Caucasus region and the Caspian Sea.
Two genes were distinctly different in these modern horse progenitors and may have aided this rapid expansion, the researchers found.
In studies of humans and mice, those genes influence endurance, weight-bearing ability and docility.
Selective breeding by humans could have “recombined two really good factors not [previously] present in any horse,” Orlando says. “That created an animal that was both easier to interact and move with.”
Humans may have tamed horses before, but it wasn’t until this point that our relationship with horses really took off, he says. “This is the moment in history horses made history.”
See more here: sciencenews.org
Header image: L Orlando
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Jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
PSI Readers because I doubt if the author, or authors, of this article actually reads what is POSTED at here at PSI.
“Orlando and colleagues analyzed ancient DNA from 273 horse bone specimens from across the continents, spanning 50,000 years of human and equine history. For most of that time, genetically varied wild horse populations were scattered across Eurasia.”
I question if there ever were ancient wild horses. For I read: “And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God make the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the round according to their kinds.” (Genesis 1:24,25 NIV). This is the first reason.
A second reason is that we still classify animals as being livestock (domestic) animals and wild animals. And it cannot not be doubted that which has been translated to the English language were translated from records of very ancient languages. Languages the existed before we are aware that any person (human) began to classify plants, birds, fish and animals that move along the ground.
A third reason is that today in my state and other states we have WILD HORSES. And we know that these modern wild horses were domestic horses which live on the ground without any assistance of humans. So I question do any continents beside the Americas have modern wild horses??? It would seem to me that the other continents must now have wild horses, but I do not claim that I KNOW this.
And I ask another question to which I don’t KNOW an answer.. Did Australia and New Zealand ever have any prehistoric livestock animals???
Have a good day, Jerry
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Chris*
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Answer to your question : NO Australia did not have any animals we would call live stock. The last wave of aboriginal people to Australia bought the dingo, which was a domestic dog and is genetically profiled to be the domestic dog of Sri Lanka. We do however now have wild horses which were formally domesticated animals, along with camels, donkeys, buffalo and even ostrich. New Zealand also has wild horses now, they are descendants of WW1 army horses which were retired and let go.
AS for the history of horses, there are cave paintings right across Europe and down to Israel done by Neanderthals which depict the various subspecies of horses . eg The short legged, short necked , round bodied horses which lived in the colder climes ( Shetland ponies, Norwegian fjord horses, Scotland clydesdales etc. They painted the Arab horses in Israel – finer builds fine long legs, high head carriage, high tail carriage , built for a warmer climate. Also painted were the primitive horses in Europe like the Prezwalski and also the European horse which was distinctive with its long legs and long arched necks. As a child I learnt that horses evolved from a fox terrier size fruit eating , forest dwelling, four toed animal. I don’t think that idea has been disbanded. The reality is that we basically know nothing about the history of horses. Those of us that own them and love them are in awe of their beauty and generous spirit. Personally I agree with the Muslim faith that says ‘Horses are a gift from God’ .
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MattH
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Hi Jerry and curious bystanders.
As New Zealand had no mammals or snakes other than bats and rock hoppers, (sealions etc) the birds had no predators other than birds of prey, which is why there developed flightless and semi flightless birds in New Zealand. These birds are extremely vulnerable to predation from cats, dogs, mustelids , rats, etc.
Two extinct species were the Haast’s Eagle, the biggest eagle ever known to have existed on earth, and the Moa, the biggest bird known to have existed on earth.
The Haast’s Eagle is estimated to have weighed 15 kg with talons a similar size to a tiger’s claw whilst the largest species of Moa is thought to have weighed 200 kg. and stood over 2 meters high. Both species became extinct relatively recently as a result of predation and pressure from human settlement in NZ.
There is conjecture whether man inhabited New Zealand before the 1300s as there was an asteroid strike of Stewart Island during this century which created a tsunami recorded to have washed up coastal hills to a height of 200 meters and the conjecture is this wave may have wiped out most evidence of earlier human colonization in the shakey isles.
New Zealand does have sea horses, a species of fish.
Take that
Matt
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WhoKoo
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Correction. The moa stood up to 3.6 meters high when reaching for the stars.
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Matt
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The Mahuika Crater off Stewart Island is in need of further research. There is conjecture over the date and also some evidence that the asteroid may have wiped out a Chinese Fleet around this time. Relatively speculative. Although the Chinese have ancient records.
It is amazing how written language is important for historical record keeping.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi MattH,
“It is amazing how written language is important for historical record keeping.”
Yes, and it seems many forget that are so many spoken and written languages which need to be translated into a COMMON SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE so all the peoples of the world can actually COMMUNICATE with each other. And therein lies the PROBLEM. What has been learned can be lost during this translation process. Because there is this word in the ENGLISH language: COMPREHENSION!!!
Have a good day, Jerry
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Doug Harrison
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To answer your question, Jerry, no. Before the arrival of the Maori, the only mammals in New Zealand were bats. The Maori brought a small dog and a rat which were used as food on long voyages. In Australia there were no mammals except the dingo (dog) which was brought in via migrating forefathers of the Aboriginal peoples some 40,000 years ago.
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Seb
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Lines up well with the famous horse breeders, the Scythians – a nomadic peoples from the same region – their influence is huge on European culture – particularly noted for their horse breeding: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170427141740.htm
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Horse Lovers,
Thank you for this information!!!
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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I was under the impression that marsupials, like kangaroos, are mammals. Isn’t the Tansmanian Devil a predator and wasn’t there a marsupial wolf (now extinct)?
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PPE
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Hi Herb…It is quite common that people do not realize marsupials are mammals, with mammary glands.
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Modern domestic horses’ homeland in southwestern Russia | Principia Scientific Intl.
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Modern domestic horses’ homeland in southwestern Russia | Principia Scientific Intl.
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