Study of ancient wolves and early dogs in Iberia and North Africa

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Publications

The curious case of the Mesolithic Iberian dogs: an archaeogenetic study

Publication . Pires, Ana Elisabete; Detry, Cleia; Chikhi, Lounes; Rasteiro, Rita; Amorim, Isabel R.; Simões, Fernanda; Matos, José; Petrucci-Fonseca, Francisco; Ollivier, Morgane; Hänni, Catherine; Cardoso, João Luís; Arias, Pablo; Diniz, Mariana; Araújo, Ana Cristina; Bicho, Nuno; Sousa, Ana Catarina; Moreno-García, Marta; Arruda, Ana Margarida; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Porfírio, Eduardo; Arnaud, José Morais; Valente, Alexandra; Gonçalves, David; Alves, Lara; Götherström, Anders; Davis, Simon J. M.; Ginja, Catarina

We investigated the genetic, composition of six Canis remains from western Iberia, directly radiocarbon dated to 7,903-7,570 years (cal BP). They were identified as dogs via their qrchaeological and depositional context, osteometry, and a high percentage of aquatic diet shared with humans. For comparison, genetic data were obtained from an additional 37 Iberian dog remains from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity, as well as two Palaeolithic anda a Chalcolithic Canis identified as wolves. Previous data indicated that dog mtDNA haplogroup A (HgA) is prevalent in extant European dogs (>50%), in the Near East and Asia, but rare or absent (<10%) in European Canis older than 3,000 years (cal BP). We found a high frequency of dog HgA in pre-Neolithic Europe. We show that, contrary to the current view, Canis with HgA did not necessarily arrive in Europe from East-Asia. This phylogeographical difference in HgA frequency demonstrates that genetic differentiation was prior to, or as a consequence of, domestication which may be linked with pre-Neolithic local processes for Iberian wolf domestication. Our results emphasize that knowledge of both ancient wolves and early dogs genetic profiles from the European periphery should improve our understanding of the evolution of the European dog.

2019Journal article

Restricted access

Bioinformatic tools in the study of ancient dogs: preliminary results of an Iberian case study

Publication . Blaschikoff, Ludmilla; Serra, Octávio; Guimarães, Silvia; Cardoso, João Luís; Simões, Fernanda; Detry, Cleia; Ginja, Catarina; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Ferreira, Eduardo; Pires, Ana Elisabete

In this study, we attempted to carry out a genomic amplification of ancient DNA from four pre-historic Iberian dogs using the Illumina sequencing method; to assign mtDNA sequences to the major dog haplogroups and to characterize some phenotypic traits of these dogs.

2019Education resource

Open access

Iberian Chalcolithic Canis: a genomic approach to know them better

Publication . Blaschikoff, Ludmilla; Serra, Octávio; Guimarães, Sílvia; Cardoso, João Luís; Simões, Fernanda; Detry, Cleia; Ginja, Catarina; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Ferreira, Eduardo; Pires, Anabela Elisabete

To our knowledge, for Iberian ancient dogs and wolves, this is the first attempt to successfully apply NGS methods.

2019-10Conference object

Open access