1. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of horses recovered from a frozen tomb (Berel site, Kazakhstan, 3rd Century BC).
- Author
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Keyser-Tracqui C, Blandin-Frappin P, Francfort HP, Ricaut FX, Lepetz S, Crubézy E, Samashev Z, and Ludes B
- Subjects
- Animals, Base Sequence, Cluster Analysis, Computational Biology, DNA Primers, Databases, Nucleic Acid, Freezing, Geography, Haplotypes genetics, Kazakhstan, Molecular Sequence Data, Sequence Alignment, Sequence Analysis, DNA, DNA, Mitochondrial genetics, Fossils, Genetic Variation, Horses genetics, Phylogeny
- Abstract
Sequence polymorphism of the mitochondrial DNA D-loop was used to determine the genetic diversity of horses recovered from a Scythian princely tomb dating from the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Eight haplotypes were found among the 13 ancient horse samples tested. Phylogenetical analysis showed that these ancient horse's sequences, along with two Yakut ones, were distributed throughout the tree defined by modern horses' sequences and are closely related to them. No clear geographical affiliation of the specimens studied was thus determined. Our work, among others, supports the very ancient origin of the matrilines in horses.
- Published
- 2005
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