Study sheds light on Chinese pigs' pedigree
The ancestry of modern day Chinese pigs can be traced right back to the first pigs to be domesticated in the region some 10,000 years ago, new research reveals. The findings, based on new genetic evidence, highlight the differences between the patterns of pig domestication in Europe and Asia. Published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, the study involved scientists from China, Sweden, the UK and the US. The domestication of animals revolutionised early societies, playing a pivotal role in increasing population and spurring migrations. 'An understanding of the locations, timing and processes of domestication are therefore essential to understanding not only the roots of modern civilisation, but also the migratory trajectories that have shaped the modern geography of human languages and cultures,' the researchers write in their paper. The current study is part of a wider investigation of pig domestication and early human migrations across east Asia. The team analysed DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequences from 1,500 modern east Asian pigs plus the remains of 18 ancient pigs found at sites along the Yellow River in China. The researchers found that domestic pigs in China today are directly descended from the first pigs to be domesticated in China 10,000 years ago. 'The earliest known Chinese domestic pigs have a direct connection with modern Chinese breeds, suggesting a long, unbroken history of pigs and people in this part of east Asia,' commented lead author of the study Dr Greger Larson of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University in the UK. This paints a very different picture to the situation in Europe. 'Previous studies of European domestic pigs demonstrated that the first pigs in Europe were imported from the Near East,' explained Dr Larson. 'Those first populations were then completely replaced by pigs descended from European wild boar. 'However, despite the occurrence of genetically distinct populations of wild boar throughout modern China, these populations have not been incorporated into domestic stocks.' The study also allowed the researchers to identify many centres of pig domestication in east Asia, and shed new light on the movements of ancient humans and their pigs across the region. Once pigs had been incorporated into domestic stocks in southeast Asia, they migrated south and east with ancient peoples to New Guinea and remote Pacific islands such as Tahiti, Fiji and Hawaii. The DNA analysis also showed that wild boar were probably domesticated in many places including India and the southeast Asian peninsula. As yet, there is no support for these findings in the archaeological record. 'The overall findings provide the most complete picture yet of pig evolution and domestication in east Asia and generate testable hypotheses regarding the development and spread of early farmers in the Far East,' the researchers concluded. 'Our evidence suggests an intriguingly complex pattern of local domestication and regional turnover and calls for a reappraisal of the archaeological record across south and east Asia,' Dr Larson pointed out. 'We may even find additional centres of pig domestication when we take a closer look at the picture in that part of the world.'
Countries
China, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States