The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 40 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The origin of European cattle: Evidence from modern and ancient DNA
Open accessAbstract
Cattle domestication from wild aurochsen was among the most important innovations during the Neolithic agricultural revolution. The available genetic and archaeological evidence points to at least two major sites of domestication in India and in the Near East, where zebu and the taurine breeds would have emerged independently. Under this hypothesis, all present-day European breeds would be descended from cattle domesticated in the Near East and subsequently spread during the diffusion of herding and farming lifestyles. We present here previously undescribed genetic evidence in contrast with this view, based on mtDNA sequences from five Italian aurochsen dated between 7,000 and 17,000 years B.P. and >1,000 modern cattle from 51 breeds. Our data are compatible with local domestication events in Europe and support at least some levels of introgression from the aurochs in Italy. The distribution of genetic variation in modern cattle suggest also that different south European breeds were affected by introductions from northern Africa. If so, the European cattle may represent a more variable and valuable genetic resource than previously realized, and previous simple hypotheses regarding the domestication process and the diffusion of selected breeds should be revised.
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“Moving toward peripheral regions such as Europe and Africa, this genetic diversity gradually decreases: modern European cattle primarily carry the taurine T3 lineage, while the T1 lineage is predominantly distributed in Africa [26,27].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) provides the most robust evidence supporting the Near Eastern origin. The Near East encompasses mtDNA taurine lineages (T, T1, T2, T3, T5), exhibiting high genetic diversity [26,27].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“The establishment of European cattle was also influenced by early African pastoralist maritime trade. The T1 haplogroup constitutes 5–30% of cattle in Mediterranean coastal areas, such as Spain and Greece, whereas it is absent in central and northern Europe [26].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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“As previously mentioned, African cattle (mtDNA T1, mixed with zebu lineage) were once introduced to the European Mediterranean region [26,52,53].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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“Approximately 7000 years ago, taurine cattle were distributed in southern Egypt and across the African continent, established by the T1 mtDNA lineage, which is now characteristic of African cattle [26,37,38,45].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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“The T3 haplogroup is mainly distributed in Eurasia; the T2 haplogroup is found in Anatolia and the Middle East; the T1 haplogroup is mainly distributed in Africa; and T4 haplogroup is mainly distributed in East Asia [14,26,27,33].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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Citations
Cites
Genetic analyses from ancient DNA
Pääbo, S., Poinar, H., Serre, D., Jaenicke-Després, V., Hebler, J., Rohland, N., Kuch, M., Krause, J., Vigilant, L., & Hofreiter, M. (2004) · Annual Review of Genetics · doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.37.110801.143214 · Cited by 1,333
Ancient DNA: Do It Right or Not at All
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The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe
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Worldwide Phylogeography of Wild Boar Reveals Multiple Centers of Pig Domestication
Larson, G., Dobney, K. M., Albarella, U., Fang, M., Matisoo-Smith, E. A., Robins, J. H., Lowden, S., Finlayson, H. A., Brand, T. B., Willerslev, E., et al. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1106927 · Cited by 912
Evidence for Two Independent Domestications of Cattle
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The application of molecular genetic approaches to the study of human evolution
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., & Feldman, M. W. (2003) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/ng1113 · Cited by 687
Genetic Evidence for Near-Eastern Origins of European Cattle
Troy, C. S., MacHugh, D. E., Bailey, J. F., Magee, D. A., Loftus, R. T., Cunningham, P., Chamberlain, A. T., Sykes, B. C., & Bradley, D. G. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35074088 · Cited by 627
DNA markers reveal the complexity of livestock domestication
Bruford, M. W., Bradley, D. G., & Luikart, G. (2003) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/nrg1203 · Cited by 599
Self-citationMitochondrial diversity and the origins of African and European cattle
Bradley, D. G., MacHugh, D. E., Cunningham, P., & Loftus, R. T. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.10.5131 · Cited by 584
Research works printed but not linked: 4
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Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact
Zeder, M. A. (2008) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0801317105 · Cited by 1,160
The state of the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture
Rischkowsky, B. (2007) · Cited by 692
Genetic diversity in farm animals – a review
Groeneveld, L. F., Lenstra, J. A., Eding, H., Toro, M. Á., Scherf, B., Pilling, D., Negrini, R., Finlay, E. K., Jianlin, H., Groeneveld, E., et al. (2010) · Animal Genetics · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2010.02038.x · Cited by 680
Saturated Fats and Health: A Reassessment and Proposal for Food-Based Recommendations
Astrup, A. V., Magkos, F., Bier, D. M., Brenna, J. T., Otto, M. C. D. O., Hill, J. O., King, J. C., Mente, A., Ordovás, J. M., Volek, J. S., et al. (2020) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.077 · Cited by 581
Ancient DNA, pig domestication, and the spread of the Neolithic into Europe
Larson, G., Albarella, U., Dobney, K. M., Rowley-Conwy, P. A., Schibler, J., Tresset, A., Vigne, J., Edwards, C. J., Schlumbaum, A., Dinu, A., et al. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0703411104 · Cited by 535
Metadata
- Authors
- Beja-Pereira, A., Caramelli, D., Lalueza-Fox, C., Vernesi, C., Ferrand, N., Casoli, A., Goyache, F., Royo, L. J., Conti, S., Lari, M., Martini, A., Ouragh, L., Magid, A., Atash, A., Zsolnai, A., Boscato, P., Triantaphylidis, C., Ploumi, K., Sineo, L., Mallegni, F., Taberlet, P., Erhardt, G., Sampietro, L., Bertranpetit, J., Barbujani, G., Luikart, G., & Bertorelle, G.
- Affiliations
- Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO-UP) and Secção Autónoma de Engenharia de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal;
- University of Florence (IT)
- Secció Antropologia, Departament Biologia Animal, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal, 645-08028 Barcelona, Spain;
- Centro di Ecologia Alpina, Viote del Monte Bondone, 38040 Trento, Italy;
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- University of Parma (IT)
- Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (ES)
- Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (MA)
- University of Tripoli (LY)
- Research Institute for Animal Breeding and Nutrition, 2053 Herceghalom, Hungary;
- University of Siena (IT)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
- National Agricultural Research Foundation (GR)
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi, 18-90123 Palermo, Italy;
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE)
- Unitat de Biologia Evolutiva, Departament di Ciències Experimentals e de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; and
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES)
- University of Ferrara (IT)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2006-05-23
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 21
- Pages
- 8113-8118
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC1472438
- OpenAlex
- W2103264030
- Cited by
- 342
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 11.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (Fondazione Edmund Mach) (submittedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion)
- Use Siena air (University of Siena) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Università degli Studi di Firenze
- Università degli Studi di Ferrara
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- cattle domestication, aurochs, European cattle breeds, mitochondrial DNA, ancient DNA, Neolithic, introgression, Bos indicus, taurine cattle, breed genetic diversity
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Base Sequence, Breeding, Cattle, DNA, Mitochondrial, Europe, Genetics, Population, Geography, Molecular Sequence Data, Species Specificity, Genetic Variation, Sequence Analysis, DNA
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