Ancient genomic evidence reveals dual migration routes and yak introgression history of taurine cattle on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Ancient genomic evidence reveals dual migration routes and yak introgression history of taurine cattle on the Tibetan Plateau Shungang Chen1 ,2 , Jiawen Hou3 ,4 , Yu Gao2 , Guilian Sheng 5 ,6 , Ying Zhang7 , Shargan Wangdue8 , Zeba Duoji9 , Songmei Hu10 ,11 , Qiaomei Fu 12 ,13 , Xinyi Liu14 , Ningbo Chen 15 , ∗ and Fahu Chen1 ,2 , ∗ Cattle, including taurine (Bos taurus taurus) and indicine (B. t. indicus) cattle, were independently domesticated in the Fertile Crescent (∼10 500 years before present, a BP) and the Indus Valley (∼8500 a BP), respectively [1,2]. As a vital component of the early farming economy, cattle provided humans with meat, milk, leather and other material resources. They were commonly used as draft animals for transportation and provided manure to enrich soils for the cultivation of soils in agropastoral systems. The domestication processes of cattle and post-domestication dispersals driven by human migrations, featuring distinct geographical ranges of the two lineages of taurine and indicine cattle, have shaped ancient economies across Eurasian and African continents, with profound implications that can still be felt today [3]. The oldest record of domestic cattle in ancient China has been documented at Houtaomuga in Da’an, Jilin Province, dating to ∼5500–5300 calibrated (cal) a BP, as informed by archeological and ancient DNA (aDNA) evidence [4]. The introduction of taurine cattle into the Yellow River region ∼5000 a BP and their arrival on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau ∼3750 a BP are supported by genetic evidence [4,5]. Furthermore, taurine cattle arrived on the southern Tibetan Plateau ∼2500 a BP according to evidence from the