Ancient genomes illuminate the origins and dynamic history of East Asian cattle
The evolutionary history of domesticated cattle in East Asia for the past 5000 years remains largely obscure. Here, we investigated the origins and evolution of cattle genetic diversity in China by analyzing shotgun genome sequences of 166 ancient bovines spanning a 10,000-year period and encompassing now-extinct East Asian aurochs and domesticated cattle from key archaeological cultures. East and North Asian aurochs were distinct from western aurochs, although East Asian aurochs harbored approximately 15% western ancestry. The first domesticated cattle in the Yellow River region derived approximately 10% of their ancestry from local aurochs with an uneven genome-wide distribution. Early cattle from Xinjiang were genetically distinct and partially contributed to the later northern Chinese cattle. Indicine admixture became widespread only in the Medieval period in northern China.
Authors
- Choongwon Jeong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3049-2352)
- Wenying Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6703-725X)
- Dawei Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6650-0217)
- Chang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3267-1859)
- Cunshi Zhu
- Naifan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6791-573X)
- Jing Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3521-6744)
- Chao Ning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8848-3961)
- Jing Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5495-684X)
- Jianen Cao
- Qiurong Ruan
- Yuan Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2744-750X)
- Xingcheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0506-7773)
- Shengnan Lian
- Xiaohong Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3819-0829)
- Weilin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2852-1903)
- Xinyue Shao
- Liangguo He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9739-2407)
- Idilisi Abuduresule
- Xiaoyang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9717-8160)
- Yongqiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4909-2965)
- Pengcheng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2939-6443)
- Jian Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2221-2285)
- Jie Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5315-3815)
- Wei Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6968-6974)
- Hui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1039-7833)
- Wenyan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9575-7812)
- Xiaoyan Ren
- Zhouyong Sun
- Xiaoning Guo
- Liping Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2140-0292)
- Tianshu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0001-8561)
- Quanchao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0863-5751)
- Songmei Hu
- Da Ha
- D. K. Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4446-745X)
- Lixin Wang
- Miaomiao Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1780-5336)
- Yu Dang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5603-8574)
- Yan Ding
- Chunxue Wang
- Ruilin Mao
- Linheng Mo
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CN)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Shandong University (CN)
- Shanxi University (CN)
- Jilin University (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Inner Mongolia Normal University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Cultural Relics Institute Hebei Province (CN)
- Yunnan Archaeology (CN)
- Hulunbuir University (CN)
- Shanxi Museum (CN)
- Institute of Archaeology (CN)
- Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology (CN)
- Yulin University (CN)
- University of Southampton (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-12-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adu9904
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.82