Evolution and Legacy of East Asian Aurochs
Open accessAbstract
Aurochs (Bos primigenius), once widely distributed in Afro-Eurasia, became extinct in the early 1600 s. However, their phylogeography and relative contributions to domestic cattle remain unknown. In this study, we analyzed 16 genomes of ancient aurochs and three mitogenomes of ancient bison (Bison priscus) excavated in East Asia, dating from 43,000 to 3,590 years ago. These newly generated data with previously published genomic information on aurochs as well as ancient/extant domestic cattle worldwide through genome analysis. Our findings revealed significant genetic divergence between East Asian aurochs and their European, Near Eastern, and African counterparts on the basis of both mitochondrial and nuclear genomic data. Furthermore, we identified evidence of gene flow from East Asian aurochs into ancient and present-day taurine cattle, suggesting their potential role in facilitating the environmental adaptation of domestic cattle.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Ancient DNA from fossils in Northeast China has revealed a unique C haplogroup associated with East Asian aurochs.
“In East Asia, ancient DNA from fossils in Northeast China has revealed a unique C haplogroup associated with East Asian aurochs [17,18,19].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
Gene flow has been observed from East Asian aurochs into ancient and present-day Tibetan cattle.
“Similarly, gene flow has been observed from East Asian aurochs into ancient and present-day Tibetan cattle [18].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
Cites
The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools
Li, H., Handsaker, B., Wysoker, A., Fennell, T., Ruan, J., Homer, N., Marth, G., Abecasis, G., Durbin, R., & 1000 Genome Project Data Processing Subgroup (2009) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btp352 · Cited by 62,041 · see citing works
Fast and accurate short read alignment with Burrows-Wheeler transform
Li, H., & Durbin, R. (2009) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btp324 · Cited by 58,607 · see citing works
MUSCLE: multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high throughput
Edgar, R. C. (2004) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gkh340 · Cited by 44,662 · see citing works
PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses.
Purcell, S., Neale, B., Todd-Brown, K., Thomas, L., Ferreira, M. A. R., Bender, D., Maller, J., Sklar, P., de Bakker, P. I. W., Daly, M. J., et al. (2007) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1086/519795 · Cited by 34,089 · see citing works
MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models
Ronquist, F., & Huelsenbeck, J. P. (2003) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btg180 · Cited by 28,956 · see citing works
The Genome Analysis Toolkit: A MapReduce framework for analyzing next-generation DNA sequencing data
McKenna, A., Hanna, M., Banks, E., Sivachenko, A., Cibulskis, K., Kernytsky, A., Garimella, K., Altshuler, D., Gabriel, S., Daly, M., et al. (2010) · Genome Research · doi:10.1101/gr.107524.110 · Cited by 27,895 · see citing works
IQ-TREE: A Fast and Effective Stochastic Algorithm for Estimating Maximum-Likelihood Phylogenies
Nguyen, L.-T., Schmidt, H. A., von Haeseler, A., & Minh, B. Q. (2015) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msu300 · Cited by 26,046 · see citing works
ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates
Kalyaanamoorthy, S., Minh, B. Q., Wong, T. K. F., von Haeseler, A., & Jermiin, L. S. (2017) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth.4285 · Cited by 18,449 · see citing works
IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP
Reimer, P. J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J. W., Blackwell, P. G., Ramsey, C. B., Buck, C. E., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Friedrich, M., et al. (2013) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947 · Cited by 14,591 · see citing works
Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates
Bronk Ramsey, C. (2009) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s0033822200033865 · Cited by 8,725 · see citing works
Li, H. (2011) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btr509 · Cited by 6,283 · see citing works
BEAST 2.5: An advanced software platform for Bayesian evolutionary analysis
Bouckaert, R., Vaughan, T. G., Barido-Sottani, J., Duchêne, S., Fourment, M., Gavryushkina, A., Heled, J., Jones, G., Kühnert, D., De Maio, N., et al. (2019) · PLOS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006650 · Cited by 4,556 · see citing works
Clark, P. U., Dyke, A. S., Shakun, J. D., Carlson, A. E., Clark, J., Wohlfarth, B., Mitrovica, J. X., Hostetler, S. W., & McCabe, A. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1172873 · Cited by 3,632 · see citing works
The UCSC Table Browser data retrieval tool
Karolchik, D. (2003) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gkh103 · Cited by 2,269 · see citing works
Illumina Sequencing Library Preparation for Highly Multiplexed Target Capture and SequencingPreprint
Meyer, M., & Kircher, M. (2010) · Cold Spring Harbor Protocols · doi:10.1101/pdb.prot5448 · Cited by 2,233 · see citing works
mapDamage2.0: fast approximate Bayesian estimates of ancient DNA damage parameters
Jónsson, H., Ginolhac, A., Schubert, M., Johnson, P. L. F., & Orlando, L. (2013) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btt193 · Cited by 1,669 · see citing works
Qualimap: evaluating next-generation sequencing alignment data
García-Alcalde, F., Okonechnikov, K., Carbonell‐Caballero, J., Cruz, L. M., Götz, S., Tarazona, S., Dopazo, J., Meyer, T. F., & Conesa, A. (2012) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/bts503 · Cited by 1,135 · see citing works
The Evolution of Animal Domestication
Larson, G., & Fuller, D. Q. (2014) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110512-135813 · Cited by 640 · see citing works
Globally resolved surface temperatures since the Last Glacial Maximum
Osman, M. B., Tierney, J. E., Zhu, J., Tardif, R., Hakim, G. J., King, J., & Poulsen, C. J. (2021) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03984-4 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Targeted Retrieval and Analysis of Five Neandertal mtDNA Genomes
Briggs, A. W., Good, J. M., Green, R. E., Krause, J., Maričić, T., Stenzel, U., Lalueza‐Fox, C., Rudan, P., Brajković, D., Kućan, Ž., et al. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1174462 · Cited by 501 · see citing works
Fuller, D. Q., Denham, T. P., Arroyo‐Kalin, M., Lucas, L., Stevens, C. J., Qin, L., Allaby, R. G., & Purugganan, M. D. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1308937110 · Cited by 426 · see citing works
Chen, N., Cai, Y., Chen, Q., Li, R., Wang, K., Huang, Y., Hu, S., Huang, S., Zhang, H., Zheng, Z., et al. (2018) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04737-0 · Cited by 403 · see citing works
Self-citationRohland, N., Glocke, I., Aximu‐Petri, A., & Meyer, M. (2018) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/s41596-018-0050-5 · Cited by 358 · see citing works
Estimating genetic kin relationships in prehistoric populations
Monroy Kuhn, J. M., Jakobsson, M., & Günther, T. (2018) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195491 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Multiproxy evidence highlights a complex evolutionary legacy of maize in South America
Kistler, L., Maezumi, S. Y., de Souza, J. G., Przelomska, N. A. S., Costa, F. M., Smith, O., Loiselle, H., Ramos‐Madrigal, J., Wales, N., Ribeiro, E. R., et al. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aav0207 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
Mitochondrial Genomes of Extinct Aurochs Survive in Domestic Cattle
Achilli, A., Olivieri, A., Pellecchia, M., Uboldi, C., Colli, L., Al-Zahery, N., Accetturo, M., Pala, M., Kashani, B. H., Perego, U. A., et al. (2008) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.019 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
Self-citationAnimal domestication in the era of ancient genomics
Frantz, L., Bradley, D. G., Larson, G., & Orlando, L. (2020) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/s41576-020-0225-0 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
leeHom: adaptor trimming and merging for Illumina sequencing reads
Renaud, G., Stenzel, U., & Kelso, J. F. (2014) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gku699 · Cited by 274 · see citing works
The deep population history of northern East Asia from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene
Mao, X., Zhang, H., Qiao, S., Liu, Y., Chang, F., Xie, P., Zhang, M., Wang, T., Li, M., Cao, P., et al. (2021) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.040 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Self-citationPark, S. D. E., Magee, D. A., McGettigan, P., Teasdale, M. D., Edwards, C. J., Lohan, A. J., Murphy, A., Braud, M., Donoghue, M. T. A., Liu, Y., et al. (2015) · Genome biology · doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0790-2 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Ancient Cattle Genomics, Origins, and Rapid Turnover in the Fertile Crescent
Verdugo, M. P., Mullin, V. E., Scheu, A., Mattiangeli, V., Daly, K. G., Maisano Delser, P., Hare, A. J., Burger, J., Collins, M. J., Kehati, R., et al. (2019) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aav1002 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Ancient goat genomes reveal mosaic domestication in the Fertile Crescent
Daly, K. G., Delser, P. M., Mullin, V. E., Scheu, A., Mattiangeli, V., Teasdale, M. D., Hare, A. J., Bürger, J., Verdugo, M. P., Collins, M. J., et al. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aas9411 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
The Multifaceted Origin of Taurine Cattle Reflected by the Mitochondrial Genome
Achilli, A., Bonfiglio, S., Olivieri, A., Malusà, A., Pala, M., Kashani, B. H., Perego, U. A., Ajmone-Marsan, P., Liotta, L., Semino, O., et al. (2009) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005753 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Self-citationModern taurine cattle descended from small number of near-eastern founders
Bollongino, R., Burger, J., Powell, A., Mashkour, M., Vigne, J.-D., & Thomas, M. G. (2012) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/mss092 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Ancient Whole Genome Enrichment Using Baits Built from Modern DNA
Enk, J. M., Devault, A. M., Kuch, M., Murgha, Y. E., Rouillard, J. M., & Poinar, H. N. (2014) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msu074 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Morphological and genetic evidence for early Holocene cattle management in northeastern China
Zhang, H., Paijmans, J. L. A., Chang, F., Wu, X., Chen, G., Lei, C., Yang, X., Wei, Z., Bradley, D. G., Orlando, L., et al. (2013) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms3755 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationOrigin and Spread of Bos taurus: New Clues from Mitochondrial Genomes Belonging to Haplogroup T1
Bonfiglio, S., Ginja, C., De Gaetano, A., Achilli, A., Olivieri, A., Colli, L., Tesfaye, K., Agha, S. H., Gama, L. T., Cattonaro, F., et al. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038601 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Self-citationMingram, J., Stebich, M., Schettler, G., Hu, Y., Rioual, P., Nowaczyk, N. R., Dulski, P., You, H., Opitz, S., Liu, Q., et al. (2018) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.09.023 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Emerging evidence of plant domestication as a landscape-level process
Allaby, R. G., Stevens, C. J., Kistler, L., & Fuller, D. Q. (2021) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.002 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Widespread male sex bias in mammal fossil and museum collections
Gower, G., Fenderson, L. E., Salis, A. T., Helgen, K. M., van Loenen, A. L., Heiniger, H., Hofman‐Kamińska, E., Kowalczyk, R., Mitchell, K. J., Llamas, B., et al. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1903275116 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Brunson, K., Zhao, X., He, N., Dai, X., Rodrigues, A. T., & Yang, D. Y. (2016) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.08.008 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Ancient DNA Reveals Evidence of Abundant Aurochs (Bos Primigenius) in Neolithic Northeast China
Cai, D., Zhang, N., Zhu, S., Chen, Q., Wang, L., Zhao, X., Ma, X., Royle, T. C. A., Zhou, H., & Yang, D. Y. (2018) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2018.08.003 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Evidence for early domestic yak, taurine cattle, and their hybrids on the Tibetan Plateau
Chen, N., Zhang, Z., Hou, J., Chen, J., Gao, X., Tang, L., Wangdue, S., Zhang, X., Sinding, M. S., Liu, X., et al. (2023) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6857 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationČubrić-Ćurik, V., Novosel, D., Brajković, V., Rota‐Stabelli, O., Krebs, S., Sölkner, J., Šalamon, D., Ristov, S., Berger, B., Trivizaki, S., et al. (2021) · Evolutionary Applications · doi:10.1111/eva.13315 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Xia, X., Achilli, A., Lenstra, J. A., Tong, B., Ma, Y., Huang, Y., Han, J., Sun, Z., Chen, H., Lei, C., et al. (2021) · Heredity · doi:10.1038/s41437-021-00428-7 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, N., Cao, X., Xu, Q., Huang, X., Herzschuh, U., Shen, Z., Peng, W., Liu, S., Wu, D., Wang, J., et al. (2021) · CATENA · doi:10.1016/j.catena.2021.105892 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationMa, J., Wang, Y., Baryshnikov, G. F., Drucker, D. G., McGrath, K. M., Zhang, H., Bocherens, H., & Hu, Y. (2020) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.12.024 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationAncient DNA reveals the maternal genetic history of East Asian domestic pigs
Zhang, M., Liu, Y., Li, Z., Lü, P., Gardner, J. D., Ye, M., Wang, J., Yang, M., Shao, J., Wang, W., et al. (2021) · Journal of genetics and genomics/Journal of Genetics and Genomics · doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2021.11.014 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationGinja, C., Guimarães, S. M. F., da Fonseca, R. R., Rasteiro, R., Rodríguez-Varela, R., Simões, L. G., Sarmento, C. D., Belarte, M. C., Kallala, N., Torres, J. R., et al. (2023) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107196 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
The Draft Genome of Extinct European Aurochs and its Implications for De-Extinction
Sinding, M. S., & Gilbert, M. T. P. (2016) · Open Quaternary · doi:10.5334/oq.25 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationInference of Admixture Origins in Indigenous African Cattle
Kim, K., Kim, D., Hanotte, O., Lee, C., Kim, H., & Jeong, C. (2023) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msad257 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Evidence of hybridization of cattle and aurochs on the Tibetan Plateau ∼3750 years ago
Chen, S., Ren, L., Gao, Y., Dong, G., Sheng, G., Han, J., Liu, X., Chen, N., & Chen, F. (2024) · 中国科学通报:英文版 · doi:10.1016/j.scib.2024.06.035 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationNeeds for a conceptual bridge between biological domestication and early food globalization
Liu, X., & Jones, M. K. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2219055121 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, H., Chang, F., Li, H., et al. (2018) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/rdc.2018.48 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, N., Liang, Q., Shao, X., Guo, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, W., Ning, C., & Cai, D. (2023) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104136 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The genomic legacy of aurochs hybridisation in ancient and modern Iberian cattlePreprint
Günther, T., Chisausky, J., Galindo-Pellicena, M. Á., Iriarte, E., Cortés, O., Eusebi, P. G., García‐González, R., Ureña, I., Moreno, M., Ruiz, A. A., et al. (2024) · eLife · doi:10.1101/2023.07.19.548914 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Langer, P. H. (2006) · Mammalian Biology · doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2006.06.002 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ancient Genomes Illuminate the Origins and Dynamic History of East Asian Cattle
Cai, D., Kim, D., Zhang, N., Wang, X., Li, T., Li, J., Li, C., Lian, S., Shao, X., Hu, S., et al. (2025) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.adu9904 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Revisiting Aurochs Haplogroup C: Paleogenomic Perspectives from Northeastern China
Zhu, Y., Hou, X., Zhao, J., Xiao, B., Song, S., Zou, X., Liu, S., Hofreiter, M., & Lai, X. (2025) · Genes · doi:10.3390/genes16060639 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution
Liu, Y., Dao, W., Gao, R., Fan, X., Yang, R., & Miao, Y. (2026) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani16050776 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hou, J., Guan, X., Xia, X., Lyu, Y., Liu, X., Mazei, Y., Xie, P., Chang, F., Zhang, X., Chen, J., Li, X., Zhang, F., Jin, L., Luo, X., Sinding, M.-H. S., Sun, X., Achilli, A., Migliore, N. R., Zhang, D., Lenstra, J. A., Han, J., Fu, Q., Liu, X., Zhang, X., Chen, N., Lei, C., & Zhang, H.
- Affiliations
- Kunming Institute of Zoology (CN)
- Northwest A&F University (CN)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Shenzhen MSU-BIT University (CN)
- Yunnan University (CN)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Pavia (IT)
- Lanzhou University (CN)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- ORCID
- Hou, Jiawen
- Guan, Xiwen
- Xia, Xiaoting
- Liu, Xin
- Mazei, Yuri
- Xie, Ping
- Chang, Fengqin
- Zhang, Xiaonan
- Chen, Jialei
- Li, Xinyi
- Zhang, Fengwei
- Jin, Liangliang
- Luo, Xiaoyu
- Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.
- Sun, Xin
- Achilli, Alessandro
- Migliore, Nicola Rambaldi
- Lenstra, Johannes A.
- Han, Jianlin
- Fu, Qiaomei
- Liu, Xinyi
- Zhang, Xiaoming
- Chen, Ningbo
- Lei, Chuzhao
- Zhang, Hucai
- Venue
- Science Bulletin
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-11
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 21
- Pages
- 3425-3433
- ISSN
- 2095-9273 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4402628549
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 5.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- 中国科学通报:英文版 (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41820104008, U23A20161, T2222030, U2202207, 32102523)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China
- Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-37)
- Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (2452021153)
- Agriculture Research System of China
- Northwest A and F University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- aurochs, Bos primigenius, Bison priscus, cattle, taurine cattle, phylogeography, genetic divergence, gene flow, environmental adaptation, ancient genomes, mitochondrial genome
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cattle, Biological Evolution, Asia, Eastern, Phylogeny, Ruminants, Genetic Variation, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Flow, Extinction, Biological, Genome, Mitochondrial, Phylogeography
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review