Commensalism within anthropogenic environments has not been extensively discussed, despite its impact on humans, and there is no formal framework for assessing this ecological relationship in its ...varied forms. Here, we examine commensalism in anthropogenic environments in detail, considering both ecological and evolutionary drivers. The many assumptions about commensalism and the nature of anthropogenic environments are discussed and we highlight dependency as a key attribute of anthropogenic commensals (anthrodependent taxa). We primarily focus on mammalian species in the anthropogenic-commensal niche, but the traits described and selective pressures presented are likely fundamental to many species engaged in intense commensal relationships with humans. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this largely understudied interaction represents an important opportunity to investigate evolutionary processes in rapidly changing environments.
The definition of commensal taxa should be based on dependency.
The concept of anthrodependent taxa leads to new species categorised as commensal.
Commensals give insight into selective pressures in rapidly changing environments.
The ability to document the effects of domestication from archaeological remains of animals and plants is essential for reconstructing the history of one of the most important transitions in human ...prehistory – the shift from hunting and gathering to farming. In mammals, teeth are well preserved in archaeological remains and are known to be taxonomically informative. In this study, we compare three sets of dental morphometric descriptors in wild and domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) – maximum length, size and shape variables from 2D geometric morphometrics – in order to assess which of the three provides the best ability to correctly distinguish current wild and domestic West Palaearctic pigs. For this purpose, we used predictive linear discriminant analysis with cross-validation taking into account potential bias due to heterogeneous sample sizes and important number of predictors. Classification accuracy of wild and domestic status ranged between 77.3 and 93% depending of the tooth and the descriptor analyzed. However, individual posterior probabilities of correct classification were appreciably smaller when using tooth length and centroid size compared to shape variables. Size appeared to be a poor indicator of wild and domestic status, contrary to shape which in addition provides a high degree of confidence in the wild versus domestic predictions. Our results indicate that geometric morphometrics offers an extremely powerful alternative to more traditional biometric approaches of length and width measurements to capture the elusive morphological changes induced by the domestication process in archaeological remains.
► Geometric morphometrics was used to accurately identify wild or domestic Suc scrofa. ► We compare and contrast the accuracy of 3 descriptors to recognize wild/domestic pigs. ► Molar size is an extremely poor indicator of the domestication status in pigs. ► Molar shape provides the best available technique to identify domestic pigs. ► Geometric morphometrics is a powerful alternative to traditional biometric techniques.
Domestic cattle have contributed both to the rise of civilizations and the global loss of biodiversity, but the timing and mechanism of their domestication history remain to be fully understood. ...Palaeogenetics, which can now explore the target of human selection in the genome, have revolutionized our understanding of cattle domestication. However, biometric approaches of bone remains are still required as a prerequisite for targeted paleogenetic studies to document the taxonomic diversity of wild progenitors and the emergence of domestic morphotypes. But so far, biometric markers of cattle domestication have proven limited in their capacity to disentangle human intentionality from other biotic and abiotic factors.
Using a two-dimensional geometric morphometric approach (GMM), we assessed the taxonomic and phylogenetic signals of the enamel folding pattern of occlusal surfaces (EFPOS) in the maxillary and mandibular molars of wild and domestic species of the tribe Bovini, including ancient cattle breeds and archaeological aurochs and domestic cattle. The phylogenetic signal was assessed using a mitochondrial genome phylogeny across 11 wild taxa of the tribe Bovini. We found that EFPOS could accurately identify both the wild and domestic species of the Bovini taxa as well as shape differentiation among aurochs and modern and archaeological cattle. The phylogenetic differentiation among aurochs and both taurine and zebu cattle is strong, but the overall phylogenetic signal among the tribe Bovini is blurred by genetic introgression between wild and domestic Bos species in south-east Asia.
These results strongly suggest that the GMM analysis of dental traits are relevant markers that can be used before the implementation of targeted paleogenomic analyses as a mean to document the diversity and distribution of wild progenitors of domestic forms, identify the emergence of the earliest regional morphotype and their trajectory towards modern breeds.
Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ~8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. ...European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures in Europe and subsequently replaced indigenous domestic pig lineages in Anatolia. The specific details of these processes, however, remain unknown. To address questions related to early pig domestication, dispersal, and turnover in the Near East, we analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA and dental geometric morphometric variation in 393 ancient pig specimens representing 48 archeological sites (from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period) from Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Our results reveal the first genetic signatures of early domestic pigs in the Near Eastern Neolithic core zone. We also demonstrate that these early pigs differed genetically from those in western Anatolia that were introduced to Europe during the Neolithic expansion. In addition, we present a significantly more refined chronology for the introduction of European domestic pigs into Asia Minor that took place during the Bronze Age, at least 900 years earlier than previously detected. By the 5th century AD, European signatures completely replaced the endemic lineages possibly coinciding with the widespread demographic and societal changes that occurred during the Anatolian Bronze and Iron Ages.
The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains ...poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we first generate a de novo genome assembly of the black rat. We then sequence 67 ancient and three modern black rat mitogenomes, and 36 ancient and three modern nuclear genomes from archaeological sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of our newly reported sequences, together with published mitochondrial DNA sequences, confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.
Pigs have played a major role in the economic, social and symbolic systems of China since the Early Neolithic more than 8,000 years ago. However, the interaction between the history of pig ...domestication and transformations in Chinese society since then, have not been fully explored. In this paper, we investigated the co-evolution from the earliest farming communities through to the new political and economic models of state-like societies, up to the Chinese Empire, using 5,000 years of archaeological records from the Xiawanggang (XWG) and Xinzhai (XZ) sites (Henan Province). To trace the changes of pig populations against husbandry practices, we combined the geometric morphometric analysis of dental traits with a study of the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from bone collagen. The domestication process intensified during the Neolithic Yangshao, prompted by greater selective pressure and/or better herd control against wild introgression. After that, pig farming, in XWG, relied on local livestock and a gradual change of husbandry practices overtime. This was characterized by a gentle increase in millet foddering and animal protein intake, until a complete change over to household management during the Han dynasty. The only rupture in this steady trend of husbandry occurred during the Longshan period, with the appearance of small sized and idiosyncratic pigs with specific feeding practices (relying on millet and household scraps). From three exploratory hypothesis, we explored the possibility of anti-elite pig production in XWG during the Longshan period, as a means to resist incorporation into a new economic model promoting intensified domestic production. This exploratory hypothesis is the most suitable to our dataset; however, numerous areas need to be explored further in order to adequately document the role of pigs in the rise of China's complex societies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Identifying the phenotypic responses to domestication remains a long-standing and important question for researchers studying its early history. The great diversity in domestic animals and plants ...that exists today bears testament to the profound changes that domestication has induced in their ancestral wild forms over the last millennia. Domestication is a complex evolutionary process in which wild organisms are moved to new anthropogenic environments. Although modern genetics are significantly improving our understanding of domestication and breed formation, little is still known about the associated morphological changes linked to the process itself. In order to explore phenotypic variation induced by different levels of human control, we analysed the diversity of dental size, shape and allometry in modern free-living and captive wild, wild x domestic hybrid, domestic and insular Sus scrofa populations.
We show that domestication has created completely new dental phenotypes not found in wild boar (although the amount of variation amongst domestic pigs does not exceed that found in the wild). Wild boar tooth shape also appears to be biogeographically structured, likely the result of post-glacial recolonisation history. Furthermore, distinct dental phenotypes were also observed among domestic breeds, probably the result of differing types and intensity of past and present husbandry practices. Captivity also appears to impact tooth shape. Wild x domestic hybrids possess second molars that are strictly intermediate in shape between wild boar and domestic pigs (third molars, however, showing greater shape similarity with wild boar) while their size is more similar to domestic pigs. The dental phenotypes of insular Sus scrofa populations found on Corsica and Sardinia today (originally introduced by Neolithic settlers to the islands) can be explained either by feralization of the original introduced domestic swine or that the founding population maintained a wild boar phenotype through time.
Domestication has driven significant phenotypic diversification in Sus scrofa. Captivity (environmental control), hybridization (genome admixture), and introduction to islands all correspond to differing levels of human control and may be considered different stages of the domestication process. The relatively well-known genetic evolutionary history of pigs shows a similar complexity at the phenotypic level.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. To ...track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000 cal. BP, combining geometric morphometrics numerical taxonomy, ancient mitochondrial DNA and direct radiocarbon dating. We found that large late hunter-gatherer sedentary settlements in the Levant, c. 14,500 cal. BP, promoted the commensal behaviour of the house mouse, which probably led the commensal pathway to cat domestication. House mouse invasive spread was then fostered through the emergence of agriculture throughout the Near East 12,000 years ago. Stowaway transport of house mice to Cyprus can be inferred as early as 10,800 years ago. However, the house mouse invasion of Europe did not happen until the development of proto urbanism and exchange networks - 6,500 years ago in Eastern Europe and 4000 years ago in Southern Europe - which in turn may have driven the first human mediated dispersal of cats in Europe.
Early Neolithic sedentary villagers started cultivating wild cereals in the Near East 11,500 y ago Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). Recent discoveries indicated that Cyprus was frequented by Late PPNA ...people, but the earliest evidence until now for both the use of cereals and Neolithic villages on the island dates to 10,400 y ago. Here we present the recent archaeological excavation at Klimonas, which demonstrates that established villagers were living on Cyprus between 11,100 and 10,600 y ago. Villagers had stone artifacts and buildings (including a remarkable 10-m diameter communal building) that were similar to those found on Late PPNA sites on the mainland. Cereals were introduced from the Levant, and meat was obtained by hunting the only ungulate living on the island, a small indigenous Cypriot wild boar. Cats and small domestic dogs were brought from the mainland. This colonization suggests well-developed maritime capabilities by the PPNA period, but also that migration from the mainland may have occurred shortly after the beginning of agriculture.
The Roman conquest of Gaul is usually perceived as the trigger of morphological changes in livestock and, more widely, the origin of an important agropastoral evolution. However, recent studies ...suggest that the economic transition between the Iron Age and Roman periods occurred much earlier than previously thought and was partially disconnected from Italy. This article, based on the morphometric analysis of pig teeth and bones, sheds new light on this transition. It reveals a more complex agropastoral change process, in two distinct phases, from the Middle La Tène period and after the creation of the Roman Empire. Moreover, it identifies two large economic models, around the Mediterranean platform and in the temperate part of Europe, with different paces of change, production objectives, and agricultural and market strategies.
•Gallic agriculture and economy changed drastically between the 4th and 2nd c. BC.•Gallic economy experienced a second change just after the Roman conquest.•Two major economic models: in Celtic Europe and around the Mediterranean Sea.•Great regional diversity of economic behaviours.
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