Origin of the domestic chicken from modern biological and zooarchaeological approaches

Abstract

Based on its morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits, red junglefowl was considered the main ancestor of domestic chicken in the late 19th century (Darwin, 1868), which was supported by molecular data collected in the 20th century (Baker, 1968; Fumihito et al., 1996). However, the mtDNA analyses from the early 21st century suggested multiple G. gallus subspecies as the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken (Liu et al., 2006; Miao et al., 2013). Moreover, recent genome data revealed that the red junglefowl subspecies G. g. spadiceus is the main wild ancestor, which was translocated across Southeast and South Asia and locally interbred with other red junglefowl subspecies and junglefowl species (Wang et al., 2020). Animal Frontiers Figure 4. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree showing the monophyletic clade formed by domestic chickens with Gallus gallus spadiceus as the nearest wild progenitor. Black dots at nodes indicate ≥99% bootstrap support. Domestic chicken and red junglefowl clades are collapsed and colored according to geographic range and subspecies classification (Wang et al., 2020). This hypothesis explains the origin of certain morphological features, such as yellow skin, derived from the gray junglefowl and currently present in domestic chickens but absent in red junglefowls (Eriksson et al., 2008). Zooarchaeological Approach: Where can the Oldest Domestic Chicken Bones be Found? Candidate sites for the oldest domestic chicken bone Frederick Zeuner suggested that chickens were first domesticated in the Indus Valley region ca. 2000 BC (Zeuner, 1963) based on seals and figurines depicting chicken and a chicken femur found at Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan (Sewell and Guha, 1931). In 1988, West and Zhou (1988) reviewed archaeological sites with chicken bones from before the 1st century AD. They listed 90 archaeological sites containing chicken bones in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. They introduced Cishan (Hebei Province; 5405 ± 100 to 5285 ± 105 BC), Peiligang (Henan Province; 5935 ± 480 to 5495 ± 200 BC) (Figure 5), and 16 other Neolithic Chinese sites predating Mohenjo-Daro and concluded that chickens were first domesticated in Southeast Asia, transported north, and established in China (West and Zhou, 1988). Phasianidae bones from Cishan were identified as domesticated chickens for three reasons (Zhou, 1981). …