Evidence for early domestic yak, taurine cattle, and their hybrids on the Tibetan Plateau

作者：Ningbo Chen, Zhengwei Zhang, Jiawen Hou, Jialei Chen, Xuan Gao, Li Tang, Shargan Wangdue, Xiaoming Zhang, Mikkel‐Holger S. Sinding, Xuexue Liu, Xuexue Liu, Jianlin Han, Hongliang Lü, Chuzhao Lei, Fiona Marshall, Xinyi Liu, Xinyi Liu · 发表于：Science Advances · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1126/sciadv.adi6857 · 被引用次数：39 · 研究领域：Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology、Animal Diversity and Health Studies、Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

Domestic yak, cattle, and their hybrids are fundamental to herder survival at high altitudes on the Tibetan Plateau. However, little is known about their history. Bos remains are uncommon in this region, and ancient domestic yak have not been securely identified. To identify Bos taxa and investigate their initial management, we conducted zooarchaeological analyses of 193 Bos specimens and sequenced five nuclear genomes from recently excavated assemblages at Bangga. Morphological data indicated that more cattle than yak were present. Ancient mitochondrial DNA and nuclear genome sequences identified taurine cattle and provided evidence for domestic yak and yak-cattle hybridization ~2500 years ago. Reliance on diverse Bos species and their hybrid has increased cattle adaptation and herder resilience to plateau conditions. Ancient cattle and yak at Bangga were closely related to contemporary livestock, indicating early herder legacies and the continuity of cattle and yak husbandry on the Tibetan Plateau.