- 1Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- 3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- 4Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
- 5Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
- 6Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (State Administration of Cultural Heritage), Lanzhou 730000, China
Yak (Bos grunniens) has a strong adaptability to the alpine ecological environment, and is also known as the "boat of the plateau" and "omnipotent livestock". The domestication of yaks has provided an important survival basis for human beings from seasonal migration to permanent nomadic habitation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). However, there are still many controversies and unresolved issues regarding the domestication history of yaks, especially the time, location, and pathway of yak domestication. This study conducted Carbon-14 dating and ancient DNA analysis on 37 cattle (Bos taurus) and yak bone remains excavated from 13 archaeological sites on the QTP. The ancient genomes dating from 40 to 0.14 thousand years ago (Kya) was obtained, and population genetic analysis was conducted based on species identification. The results show that cattle have been introduced to the QTP before 4 Kya, and the hybridization between cattle and wild yaks started before 3.4 Kya. The domestication of yaks occurred after cattle were introduced to the QTP. All ancient domesticated yaks discovered so far are no earlier than 2.6 Kya. In the nearly 1 thousand years from the beginning of hybridization between cattle and wild yaks until the emergence of domesticated yaks, genes related to docility have been introgressed into yak population from cattle population by interspecific hybridization, promoting prehistoric humans successfully domesticate wild yaks. Unlike the three known animal domestication pathways (commensal pathway, prey pathway and directed pathway), yak domestication is more in line with the hybridization pathway. No earlier than 3 Kya, wild yaks were successfully domesticated and cattle gradually adapted to the alpine and hypoxic environment, leading to the formation of yak-cattle husbandry on the QTP. This study is the first case of ancient DNA research focused on yaks, demonstrating that prehistoric Trans-Eurasia exchange not only promoted the spread of livestock, but also facilitated the domestication of related species, changed the livelihood patterns of humans on the QTP, and thus facilitated permanent human occupation of the QTP.
Keywords: yak; domestication; archaeology; genetics; ancient DNA
How to cite: Chen, S., Chen, N., Gao, Y., Yang, X., and Chen, F.: Hypothesis of yak domestication based on archaeological and ancient DNA evidence, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-11465, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-11465, 2025.
