The Draft Genome of Extinct European Aurochs and its Implications for De-Extinction

Abstract

Whether as a cave painting, a mounted skeleton in a museum, or as described in ancient texts, the extinct aurochs has long mesmerized humans. In the context of genetics, aurochs have been targeted since the early days of the establishment of ancient DNA techniques, and for two decades analyses of its mitochondrial genome have considerably deepened our knowledge of this animal. These studies have produced major discoveries, such as how cattle were domesticated from aurochs through at least two separate events. However, answers to many other aspects of its evolutionary history require more than the sequence from a single non-recombining marker such as the mitochondrial genome. Of these questions, perhaps one of the most fascinating is whether domestic cattle and wild aurochs continued to cross-breed following the initial domestication event, and if so, to what extent? Resolving this question would provide valuable new insights into how our ancestors domesticated cattle and subsequently manipulated their gene pool. In addition, it will become increasingly relevant as we enter the de-extinction debate. Are we witnessing the recovery of information that might, in the not too distant future, allow the re-creation of aurochs through selective back breeding of carefully chosen modern cattle lineages? A correction article relating to this publication can be found here: http://doi.org/10.5334/oq.33