Published January 31, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article

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

Description

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.

Abstract

International audience

Additional details

Identifiers

URL
https://hal.science/hal-05034232
URN
urn:oai:HAL:hal-05034232v1

Origin repository

Origin repository
UNICA