Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep

Kevin G. Daly; Victoria E. Mullin; Andrew J. Hare; Áine Halpin; Valeria Mattiangeli; Matthew D. Teasdale; Conor Rossi; Sheila Geiger; Stefan Krebs; Ivica Medugorac; Edson Sandoval-Castellanos; Mihriban Özbaşaran; Güneş Duru; Sevil Gülcür; Nadja Pöllath; Matthew Collins; Laurent Frantz; Emmanuelle Vila; Peter Zidarov; Simon Stoddart; Bazartseren Boldgiv; Ludovic Orlando; Mike Parker Pearson; Jacqui Mullville; Igor V. Askeyev; Arthur O. Askeyev; Oleg V. Askeyev; Dilyara N. Shaymuratova; Youri Van den Hurk; Andrea Zeeb-Lanz; Rose-Marie Arbogast; Helmut Hemmer; Hossein Davoudi; Sarieh Amiri; Sanaz Beizaee Doost; Delphine Decruyenaere; Homa Fathi; Roya Khazaeli; Yousef Hassanzadeh; Alireza Sardari; Johanna Lhuillier; Mostafa Abdolahi; Geoffrey D. Summers; Catherine Marro; Veli Bahshaliyev; Rémi Berthon; Canan Çakirlar; Norbert Benecke; Amelie Scheu; Joachim Burger; Eberhard Sauer; Liora Kolska Horwitz; Benjamin Arbuckle; Hijlke Buitenhuis; Lionel Gourichon; Jelena Bulatović; Terry O’Connor; David Orton; Mindia Jalabadze; Stephen Rhodes; Michael Chazan; Vecihi Özkaya; Melinda Zeder; Levent Atıcı; Marjan Mashkour; Joris Peters; Daniel G. Bradley

doi:10.1126/science.adn2094

Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep

Kevin G. Daly, Victoria E. Mullin, Andrew J. Hare, Áine Halpin, Valeria Mattiangeli, Matthew D. Teasdale, Conor Rossi, Sheila Geiger, Stefan Krebs, Ivica Medugorac, Edson Sandoval-Castellanos, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Güneş Duru, Sevil Gülcür, Nadja Pöllath, Matthew Collins, Laurent Frantz, Emmanuelle Vila, Peter Zidarov, Simon StoddartBazartseren Boldgiv, Ludovic Orlando, Mike Parker Pearson, Jacqui Mullville, Igor V. Askeyev, Arthur O. Askeyev, Oleg V. Askeyev, Dilyara N. Shaymuratova, Youri Van den Hurk, Andrea Zeeb-Lanz, Rose-Marie Arbogast, Helmut Hemmer, Hossein Davoudi, Sarieh Amiri, Sanaz Beizaee Doost, Delphine Decruyenaere, Homa Fathi, Roya Khazaeli, Yousef Hassanzadeh, Alireza Sardari, Johanna Lhuillier, Mostafa Abdolahi, Geoffrey D. Summers, Catherine Marro, Veli Bahshaliyev, Rémi Berthon, Canan Çakirlar, Norbert Benecke, Amelie Scheu, Joachim Burger, Eberhard Sauer, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Benjamin Arbuckle, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Lionel Gourichon, Jelena Bulatović, Terry O’Connor, David Orton, Mindia Jalabadze, Stephen Rhodes, Michael Chazan, Vecihi Özkaya, Melinda Zeder, Levent Atıcı, Marjan Mashkour, Joris Peters^*, Daniel G. Bradley^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Section for Geobiology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central Türkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from Türkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe–related ancestry in the Bronze Age.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	387
Issue number	6733
Pages (from-to)	492-497
Number of pages	6
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2094
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2025 the authors, some rights reserved.

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10.1126/science.adn2094

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Cite this

Daly, K. G., Mullin, V. E., Hare, A. J., Halpin, Á., Mattiangeli, V., Teasdale, M. D., Rossi, C., Geiger, S., Krebs, S., Medugorac, I., Sandoval-Castellanos, E., Özbaşaran, M., Duru, G., Gülcür, S., Pöllath, N., Collins, M., Frantz, L., Vila, E., Zidarov, P., ... Bradley, D. G. (2025). Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep. Science, 387(6733), 492-497. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2094

Daly, KG, Mullin, VE, Hare, AJ, Halpin, Á, Mattiangeli, V, Teasdale, MD, Rossi, C, Geiger, S, Krebs, S, Medugorac, I, Sandoval-Castellanos, E, Özbaşaran, M, Duru, G, Gülcür, S, Pöllath, N, Collins, M, Frantz, L, Vila, E, Zidarov, P, Stoddart, S, Boldgiv, B, Orlando, L, Pearson, MP, Mullville, J, Askeyev, IV, Askeyev, AO, Askeyev, OV, Shaymuratova, DN, Van den Hurk, Y, Zeeb-Lanz, A, Arbogast, R-M, Hemmer, H, Davoudi, H, Amiri, S, Doost, SB, Decruyenaere, D, Fathi, H, Khazaeli, R, Hassanzadeh, Y, Sardari, A, Lhuillier, J, Abdolahi, M, Summers, GD, Marro, C, Bahshaliyev, V, Berthon, R, Çakirlar, C, Benecke, N, Scheu, A, Burger, J, Sauer, E, Horwitz, LK, Arbuckle, B, Buitenhuis, H, Gourichon, L, Bulatović, J, O’Connor, T, Orton, D, Jalabadze, M, Rhodes, S, Chazan, M, Özkaya, V, Zeder, M, Atıcı, L, Mashkour, M, Peters, J & Bradley, DG 2025, 'Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep', Science, vol. 387, no. 6733, pp. 492-497. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2094

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title = "Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep",

abstract = "The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central T{\"u}rkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from T{\"u}rkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe–related ancestry in the Bronze Age.",

author = "Daly, {Kevin G.} and Mullin, {Victoria E.} and Hare, {Andrew J.} and {\'A}ine Halpin and Valeria Mattiangeli and Teasdale, {Matthew D.} and Conor Rossi and Sheila Geiger and Stefan Krebs and Ivica Medugorac and Edson Sandoval-Castellanos and Mihriban {\"O}zba{\c s}aran and G{\"u}ne{\c s} Duru and Sevil G{\"u}lc{\"u}r and Nadja P{\"o}llath and Matthew Collins and Laurent Frantz and Emmanuelle Vila and Peter Zidarov and Simon Stoddart and Bazartseren Boldgiv and Ludovic Orlando and Pearson, {Mike Parker} and Jacqui Mullville and Askeyev, {Igor V.} and Askeyev, {Arthur O.} and Askeyev, {Oleg V.} and Shaymuratova, {Dilyara N.} and {Van den Hurk}, Youri and Andrea Zeeb-Lanz and Rose-Marie Arbogast and Helmut Hemmer and Hossein Davoudi and Sarieh Amiri and Doost, {Sanaz Beizaee} and Delphine Decruyenaere and Homa Fathi and Roya Khazaeli and Yousef Hassanzadeh and Alireza Sardari and Johanna Lhuillier and Mostafa Abdolahi and Summers, {Geoffrey D.} and Catherine Marro and Veli Bahshaliyev and R{\'e}mi Berthon and Canan {\c C}akirlar and Norbert Benecke and Amelie Scheu and Joachim Burger and Eberhard Sauer and Horwitz, {Liora Kolska} and Benjamin Arbuckle and Hijlke Buitenhuis and Lionel Gourichon and Jelena Bulatovi{\'c} and Terry O{\textquoteright}Connor and David Orton and Mindia Jalabadze and Stephen Rhodes and Michael Chazan and Vecihi {\"O}zkaya and Melinda Zeder and Levent Atıcı and Marjan Mashkour and Joris Peters and Bradley, {Daniel G.}",

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year = "2025",

doi = "10.1126/science.adn2094",

language = "English",

volume = "387",

pages = "492--497",

journal = "Science",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep

AU - Daly, Kevin G.

AU - Mullin, Victoria E.

AU - Hare, Andrew J.

AU - Halpin, Áine

AU - Mattiangeli, Valeria

AU - Teasdale, Matthew D.

AU - Rossi, Conor

AU - Geiger, Sheila

AU - Krebs, Stefan

AU - Medugorac, Ivica

AU - Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson

AU - Özbaşaran, Mihriban

AU - Duru, Güneş

AU - Gülcür, Sevil

AU - Pöllath, Nadja

AU - Collins, Matthew

AU - Frantz, Laurent

AU - Vila, Emmanuelle

AU - Zidarov, Peter

AU - Stoddart, Simon

AU - Boldgiv, Bazartseren

AU - Orlando, Ludovic

AU - Pearson, Mike Parker

AU - Mullville, Jacqui

AU - Askeyev, Igor V.

AU - Askeyev, Arthur O.

AU - Askeyev, Oleg V.

AU - Shaymuratova, Dilyara N.

AU - Van den Hurk, Youri

AU - Zeeb-Lanz, Andrea

AU - Arbogast, Rose-Marie

AU - Hemmer, Helmut

AU - Davoudi, Hossein

AU - Amiri, Sarieh

AU - Doost, Sanaz Beizaee

AU - Decruyenaere, Delphine

AU - Fathi, Homa

AU - Khazaeli, Roya

AU - Hassanzadeh, Yousef

AU - Sardari, Alireza

AU - Lhuillier, Johanna

AU - Abdolahi, Mostafa

AU - Summers, Geoffrey D.

AU - Marro, Catherine

AU - Bahshaliyev, Veli

AU - Berthon, Rémi

AU - Çakirlar, Canan

AU - Benecke, Norbert

AU - Scheu, Amelie

AU - Burger, Joachim

AU - Sauer, Eberhard

AU - Horwitz, Liora Kolska

AU - Arbuckle, Benjamin

AU - Buitenhuis, Hijlke

AU - Gourichon, Lionel

AU - Bulatović, Jelena

AU - O’Connor, Terry

AU - Orton, David

AU - Jalabadze, Mindia

AU - Rhodes, Stephen

AU - Chazan, Michael

AU - Özkaya, Vecihi

AU - Zeder, Melinda

AU - Atıcı, Levent

AU - Mashkour, Marjan

AU - Peters, Joris

AU - Bradley, Daniel G.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central Türkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from Türkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe–related ancestry in the Bronze Age.

AB - The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central Türkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from Türkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe–related ancestry in the Bronze Age.

U2 - 10.1126/science.adn2094

DO - 10.1126/science.adn2094

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 39883774

AN - SCOPUS:85217357784

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 387

SP - 492

EP - 497

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6733

ER -