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The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP, following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the mtDNA Cytochrome b gene and control region and the Y-chromosomal ZFY, SRY and DBY sequences. Swamp buffalo has a higher diversity of both maternal and paternal lineages than river buffalo, with also a remarkable contrast between a weak phylogeographic structure of river buffalo and a strong geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo. The highest diversity of the swamp buffalo maternal lineages was found in south China and north Indochina on both banks of the Mekong River, while the highest diversity in paternal lineages was in the China/Indochina border region. We propose that domestication in this region was later followed by introgressive capture of wild cows west of the Mekong. Migration to the north followed the Yangtze valley as well as a more eastern route, but also involved translocations of both cows and bulls over large distances with a minor influence of river buffaloes in recent decades. Bayesian analyses of various migration models also supported domestication in the China/Indochina border region. Coalescence analysis yielded consistent estimates for the expansion of the major swamp buffalo haplogroups with a credibility interval of 900 to 3900 years BP. The spatial differentiation of mtDNA and Y-chromosomal haplotype distributions indicates a lack of gene flow between established populations that is unprecedented in livestock., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The musk shrew (Suncus Murinus) is widely distributed throughout Asia and East Africa. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of this species was analyzed in individuals from 31 local populations in nine Asian countries and Mauritius, using 17 restriction endonucleases. Although fourteen and nine mtDNA haplotypes were detected from Bangladesh and Nepal, respectively, one to four haplotypes were found in each Southeast Asian country, and one common haplotype existed in Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Clustering analysis of mtDNA haplotypes classified shrew populations to three groups--continental group (Bangladesh and Nepal), islands' group (insular countries and Vietnam) and Malay group. The average nucleotide diversity among these three groups was calculated to be about 3.5%. These results indicate that the origin of feral populations in this species might be old and their population sizes are extremely large in the continent, and suggest a rapid spread of this animal throughout the islands. Although we have not shown yet an evidence of close relationships between islands' and continental mtDNA haplotypes, it is likely that the musk shrew had migrated from the continent in South Asia to the islands in Southeast Asia recently.