Jf. Bailey et al., ANCIENT DNA SUGGESTS A RECENT EXPANSION OF EUROPEAN CATTLE FROM A DIVERSE WILD PROGENITOR SPECIES, Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 263(1376), 1996, pp. 1467-1473
A total of 11 Bos primigenius and Bos taurus bones from archaeological
sites between 500 and 12 000 years old were examined for the presence
of DNA. It was possible to amplify and sequence mitochondrial control
region DNA extracted from seven of the 11 samples, including two Plei
stocene B. primigenius samples. We compared the results with published
data by constructing phylogenetic networks. The two B. primigenius sa
mples clustered with the extant B. taurus samples in the networks. The
similarity between B. primigenius and modern taurine cattle confirms
that these should be considered members of a single species. The seque
nces obtained from the B. taurus specimens were either identical to th
e reference sequence for modern European cattle or closely related to
it. They included two sequences not previously documented. The network
analysis of the ancient data highlights the intermediary nature of th
e B. primigenius sequences between modern European and African B. taur
us and the proximity of the ancient DNA B. taurus sequences to modern
European B. taurus. Further analysis of the extant data in the light o
f the ancient DNA results suggests that a degree of Pleistocene divers
ity survives in the extant European Bos population that is mainly deri
ved from a more recent population expansion.