Abstract
The past population dynamics of four domestic and one wild species of bovine were estimated using Bayesian skyline plots, a coalescent Markov chain Monte Carlo method that does not require an assumed parametric model of demographic history. Four domestic species share a recent rapid population expansion not visible in the wild African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). The estimated timings of the expansions are consistent with the archaeological records of domestication.
Highlights
The change from a hunter–gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural one had great implications for both humans and partner species
All the domesticated bovid samples examined here suggest a domestication signal: a recent, steep, continuous population expansion, post-dating the postulated time of domestication and attributable to the growth in domestic animal numbers linked to the spread and progression of agricultural practices
Archaeological and genetic data suggest that cattle were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, Southern Asia and Africa 10 000 years before present ( YBP); yak in the Himalayas and Qinghai–Tibetan plateau 4500 YBP; water buffalo in the Indus valley 5000 YBP and/or in China as early as 7000 YBP; and mithan in the Indus valley 4500 YBP (Simoons 1968; Qian 1979; Cockrill 1981; Loftus et al 1994; Troy et al 2001; Hanotte et al 2002; Wiener et al 2003)
Summary
The change from a hunter–gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural one had great implications for both humans and partner species. As most domestic species number millions worldwide, their population histories must involve rapid expansions since domestication. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is widely used in the study of domestication; its rapid mutation rate allows the accumulation of variation within the relevant time frame, and its maternal inheritance and lack of recombination mean that sequences can enter the population only by the domestication of a female animal. Genetic signatures of domestication are read within mtDNA phylogenies by the identification of star-like patterns, suggesting expansion since the time of domestication (MacHugh & Bradley 2001).
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