The genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age

• Autor(es): Garrido, Jaime Lira ; Tressières, Gaétan ; Chauvey, Lorelei ; Schiavinato, Stéphanie ; Calvière-Tonasso, Laure ; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine ; Southon, John ; Shapiro, Beth ; Bataille, Clément ; Birgel, Julie ; Wagner, Stefanie ; Khan, Naveed ; Liu, Xuexue ; Rodanés, José María ; Millán, Jesús V. Picazo ; Giralt, Josep ; Alonso, Natàlia ; Aguilera, Isidro ; Orsingher, Adriano ; Trentacoste, Angela ; Payà, Xavier ; Morán, Marta ; Eres, María Pilar Iborra ; Albizuri, Silvia ; Lamas, Silvia Valenzuela ; Santandreu, Imma Mestres ; Caixal, Montserrat Duran ; Principal, Jordi ; Huguet, Jordi Farré ; Esteve, Xavier ; Pasqual, Mireia Pedro ; Sala, Nohemi ; Pablos, Adrián ; Martín, Patricia ; Vergès, Josep Maria ; Portero, Rodrigo ; Arias, Pablo ; Peredo, Roberto Ontañón ; Detry, Cleia ; Luís, Cristina ; Cardoso, João Luís ; Maeir, Aren M. ; Valente, Maria J. ; Grau, Elena ; Poles, Vicent Estall i ; Llorens, Joaquín Alfonso ; González, Ana Miguélez ; Gardeisen, Armelle ; Cupitò, Michele ; Tecchiati, Umberto ; Bradley, Daniel G. ; Horwitz, Liora Kolska ; González, Esther Rodríguez ; Espinet, Ariadna Nieto ; Bover, Pere ; Entrecanales, Rosa Ruiz ; Estallo, Ignasi Garcés ; Fragoso, Joaquín Jiménez ; Celestino, Sebastián ; Orlando, Ludovic
• Data: 2025
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20163
• Origem: Repositório Aberto da Universidade Aberta
• Assunto(s): Animal breeding; Archaeology; Evolutionary biology; Evolutionary genetics; History
• Tipo de Documento: Artigo científico
• Idioma: Inglês
• Contribuidor(es): Repositório Aberto

Descrição

Horses have inhabited Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal) since the Middle Pleistocene, shaping a complex history in the region. Iberia has been proposed as a potential domestication centre and is renowned for producing world-class bloodlines. Here, we generate genome-wide sequence data from 87 ancient horse specimens (median coverage = 0.97X) from Iberia and the broader Mediterranean to reconstruct their genetic history over the last ~26,000 years. Here, we report that wild horses of the divergent IBE lineage inhabited Iberia from the Late Pleistocene, while domesticated DOM2 horses, native from the Pontic-Caspian steppes, already arrived ~1850 BCE. Admixture dating suggests breeding practices involving continued wild restocking until at least ~350 BCE, with IBE disappearing shortly after. Patterns of genetic affinity highlight the far-reaching influence of Iberian bloodlines across Europe and north Africa during the Iron Age and Antiquity, with continued impact extending thereafter, particularly during the colonization of the Americas.