Cited by 197Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestockGenetic diversity and population structureForensic and Genetic Research

Domestication of Cattle: Two or Three Events?

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Pitt, Daniel, Sevane, Natalia, Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L., MacHugh, David E., Park, Stephen D. E., Colli, Licia, Martinez, Rodrigo, Bruford, Michael W. +1 more·2019·Evolutionary Applications

Abstract

Abstract Cattle have been invaluable for the transition of human society from nomadic hunter‐gatherers to sedentary farming communities throughout much of Europe, Asia and Africa since the earliest domestication of cattle more than 10,000 years ago. Although current understanding of relationships among ancestral populations remains limited, domestication of cattle is thought to have occurred on two or three occasions, giving rise to the taurine ( Bos taurus ) and indicine ( Bos indicus ) species that share the aurochs ( Bos primigenius ) as common ancestor ~250,000 years ago. Indicine and taurine cattle were domesticated in the Indus Valley and Fertile Crescent, respectively; however, an additional domestication event for taurine in the Western Desert of Egypt has also been proposed. We analysed medium density Illumina Bovine SNP array (~54,000 loci) data across 3,196 individuals, representing 180 taurine and indicine populations to investigate population structure within and between populations, and domestication and demographic dynamics using approximate Bayesian computation ( ABC ). Comparative analyses between scenarios modelling two and three domestication events consistently favour a model with only two episodes and suggest that the additional genetic variation component usually detected in African taurine cattle may be explained by hybridization with local aurochs in Africa after the domestication of taurine cattle in the Fertile Crescent. African indicine cattle exhibit high levels of shared genetic variation with Asian indicine cattle due to their recent divergence and with African taurine cattle through relatively recent gene flow. Scenarios with unidirectional or bidirectional migratory events between European taurine and Asian indicine cattle are also plausible, although further studies are needed to disentangle the complex human‐mediated dispersion patterns of domestic cattle. This study therefore helps to clarify the effect of past demographic history on the genetic variation of modern cattle, providing a basis for further analyses exploring alternative migratory routes for early domestic populations.

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  • The indicine ancestry in African cattle does not entirely correspond with northern Indian zebu cattle, but shows similarities to Southeast Asian zebu cattle, indicating exchanges between zebu cattle introduced to Africa and Southeast Asian herds in the expansion.

    “Notably, the indicine ancestry in African cattle does not entirely correspond with northern Indian zebu cattle, but shows similarities to Southeast Asian zebu cattle, which indicates exchanges between zebu cattle introduced to Africa and Southeast Asian herds in the expansion [46,47].”

    From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [47]

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Authors
Pitt, D., Sevane, N., Nicolazzi, E. L., MacHugh, D. E., Park, S. D. E., Colli, L., Martinez, R., Bruford, M. W., & Orozco‐terWengel, P.
Affiliations
  • Cardiff University (GB)
  • Parco Tecnologico Padano (IT)
  • University College Dublin (IE)
  • IdentiGEN Ltd. Dublin Ireland
  • Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
  • Corporación Colombiana De Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica) Centro de investigaciones Tibaitatá Bogotá Colombia
Corresponding author
Orozco‐terWengel, Pablo
Venue
Evolutionary Applications
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2018-07-23
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
123-136
ISSN
  • 1752-4563 (ISSN-L)
  • 1752-4571
OpenAlex
W2810621866
Cited by
195
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 40 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4
FWCI
8.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Evolutionary Applications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (DLV‐655100)
Topics
  • 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
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
Keywords
cattle domestication, taurine cattle, Bos indicus, Bos primigenius, aurochs, population structure, gene flow, hybridization, demographic history, migration routes, Fertile Crescent, Indus Valley, African cattle, approximate Bayesian computation

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