Publications by authors named "Marta Pereira Verdugo"
The genomic natural history of the aurochs.
Nature
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- - The aurochs (Bos primigenius), now extinct, was a critical species in prehistoric Eurasian and North African ecosystems and is the ancestor of today's cattle, playing a significant role in providing food and labor for humans over thousands of years.
- - Researchers analyzed 38 ancient genomes, identifying four distinct aurochs populations (European, Southwest Asian, North Asian, and South Asian) that adapted to climate changes and human impacts throughout history.
- - The genetic study revealed that North Asian and European aurochs populations were separated until they mixed after the last glacial period, with domestication originating from a small group of individuals from Southwest Asia, leading to a hybridization with various aurochs strains.
Ancient genomic analyses are often restricted to utilizing pseudohaploid data due to low genome coverage. Leveraging low-coverage data by imputation to calculate phased diploid genotypes that enables haplotype-based interrogation and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling at unsequenced positions is highly desirable. This has not been investigated for ancient cattle genomes despite these being compelling subjects for archeological, evolutionary, and economic reasons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The text discusses the impact of Viking migrations to the British Isles, highlighting both archaeological and genetic evidence of their presence.
- Genetic analysis shows that Norse Viking contributions are present in Britain but do not align with the Danelaw region, suggesting a possible male-specific influence.
- Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1 is identified as linked to Viking migrations, with significant overrepresentation in the Danelaw, indicating a complex interaction between Viking ancestry and British genetics.
Genome-wide analysis of 67 ancient Near Eastern cattle, remains reveals regional variation that has since been obscured by admixture in modern populations. Comparisons of genomes of early domestic cattle to their aurochs progenitors identify diverse origins with separate introgressions of wild stock. A later region-wide Bronze Age shift indicates rapid and widespread introgression of zebu, from the Indus Valley.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrent genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or was a singular process. We generated genomic data from 83 ancient goats (51 with genome-wide coverage) from Paleolithic to Medieval contexts throughout the Near East. Our findings demonstrate that multiple divergent ancient wild goat sources were domesticated in a dispersed process that resulted in genetically and geographically distinct Neolithic goat populations, echoing contemporaneous human divergence across the region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF