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Southwest Asia is climatically and topographically a highly diverse region in the xeric belt of the Old World. Its diversity of arid habitats and climatic conditions acted as an important area for the evolution and diversification of up to 20 (of 38 known) independent Eudicot C4 origins. Some of these lineages present unique evolutionary strategies like single-cell functioning C4 and C3–C4 switching mechanisms. The high diversity of C4 taxa in Southwest (SW) Asia is also related to the presence of seven phytogeographic zones including the Irano-Turanian region as a center of diversification of many Caryophyllales lineages and the Somali-Masai region (Southern Oman and Yemen) as a center of diversification for C4 Monocots. Nevertheless, the C4 flora of SW Asia has not received detailed attention. This paper presents a comprehensive review of all known C4 species in the area based on a literature survey, own floristic observations, as well as taxonomic, phylogenetic and herbarium data, and δ13C-isotope ratio analysis. The resulting checklist includes a total number of 923 (861 native, of which 141 endemic, and 62 introduced) C4 species, composed of 350 Eudicots and 509 Monocots, most of which are therophytic and hemicryptophytic xerophytes with pluriregional and Irano-Turanian distribution. Two hundred thirty-nine new δ13C-isotope ratios of C4 and C3 plants, as well as some taxonomic changes are presented. An analysis of the distribution of the three main C4 plant families (Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae, and Cyperaceae) in the region in relation to climatic variables indicates that the increase of C4 species follows more or less a latitudinal gradient similar to global patterns, while separate taxonomic groups seem to depend on specific factors as continentality (Chenopodiaceae), average annual temperature (Cyperaceae), and the presence of summer precipitation (Poaceae). An increase of C4 Eudicots in W-E direction even in similar longitudinal belts is explained by a combination of edaphic and climatic conditions. The provided data should encourage a deeper interest in the evolution of C4 lineages in SW Asia and their adaptation to ecological and climatical conditions and awaken interest in the importance of local C4 crops, the conservation of threatened C4 taxa, and awareness of human impacts on the rapid environmental changes in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The striped hyena is the largest living omnivorous scavenger in SW Asia. It generally lives in semi-arid desert steppe regions, often denning in small caves, rock shelters, and burrows close to human settlements. Bone fragments of wild and domestic animals and desiccated scats are frequently found in the hyena dens. In this study, eight striped hyena desiccated scats were subjected to pollen analysis. All scats were rich in pollen and the exine was well-preserved with no visible sign of corrosion. Pollen spectra revealed interesting information on the regional and local vegetation, as well as the foraging behavior and diet of the animal. They reflected an array of different landscapes ranging from natural/semi-natural xerophytic desert steppes, agricultural fields, and grazing pastures. Some scats contained certain pollen taxa very rarely observed in wetland sediments, indicating the high potential of hyena "copropalynology" in providing detailed information on the past floristic composition of the landscape. When comparing with archeobotanical data from the area, the hyena scat assemblages show that the general physiognomy of the landscape has remained almost unchanged since the 6th millennium B.C., with only minor changes in the composition or density of the woody components of the desert steppe. As most of the Holocene fossil coprolites in archeological and paleontological sites of SW Asia would have been left by striped hyena, the study of the modern analogs of such accumulations in extant hyena dens is helpful to correctly interpret the fossil faunal assemblages to reconstruct the paleolandscapes, land-use change, and animal paleoethology. • We studied modern scats of striped hyenas in Iran with pollen analysis. • All scats were rich in pollen and displayed good pollen preservation. • Hyena scat pollen data provided information on paleoenvironment and human activities. • Holocene hyena scat pollen can provide information on animal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility 1 . However, the timeline between their domestication and their widespread integration as a means of transport remains contentious 2-4 . Here we assemble a collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged around 2200 BCE, through close-kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than approximately 2700 BCE, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe around 3000 BCE and earlier 3,5 . Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai around 3500 BCE, a settlement from central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centred on horses 6,7 . This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Donkeys transformed human history as essential beasts of burden for long-distance movement, especially across semi-arid and upland environments. They remain insufficiently studied despite globally expanding and providing key support to low- to middle-income communities. To elucidate their domestication history, we constructed a comprehensive genome panel of 207 modern and 31 ancient donkeys, as well as 15 wild equids. We found a strong phylogeographic structure in modern donkeys that supports a single domestication in Africa ~5000 BCE, followed by further expansions in this continent and Eurasia and ultimately returning to Africa. We uncover a previously unknown genetic lineage in the Levant ~200 BCE, which contributed increasing ancestry toward Asia. Donkey management involved inbreeding and the production of giant bloodlines at a time when mules were essential to the Roman economy and military.

Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare 1 . However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling 2-4 at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC 3 . Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia 5 and Anatolia 6 , have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association 7 between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC 8,9 driving the spread of Indo-European languages 10 . This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture 11,12 ., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date, including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (≥1-fold coverage), 87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range (Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia. Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN "speed gene," only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ~8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures in Europe and subsequently replaced indigenous domestic pig lineages in Anatolia. The specific details of these processes, however, remain unknown. To address questions related to early pig domestication, dispersal, and turnover in the Near East, we analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA and dental geometric morphometric variation in 393 ancient pig specimens representing 48 archeological sites (from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period) from Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Our results reveal the first genetic signatures of early domestic pigs in the Near Eastern Neolithic core zone. We also demonstrate that these early pigs differed genetically from those in western Anatolia that were introduced to Europe during the Neolithic expansion. In addition, we present a significantly more refined chronology for the introduction of European domestic pigs into Asia Minor that took place during the Bronze Age, at least 900 years earlier than previously detected. By the 5th century AD, European signatures completely replaced the endemic lineages possibly coinciding with the widespread demographic and societal changes that occurred during the Anatolian Bronze and Iron Ages.