Ancient DNA reveals the lost domestication history of South American camelids in Northern Chile and across the Andes

eLife

Paula F Campos¹  Isabel Cartajena²  Mauricio Moraga³  Juan Carlos Marin⁴  Lautaro Núñez⁵  Pablo Orozco-terWengel⁶  Valeria Varas⁷  Michael V Westbury⁸  Alba Rey-Iglesia⁸  Anders J Hansen⁹  Paloma Diaz-Maroto^1,10 

[1] CIIMAR Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal;Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile;Human Genetics Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile;ICCMISAC - International Consortium for the Conservation Management and Improvement of South American Camelids, Cardiff, United Kingdom;Genomic and Biodiversity Laboratory, Basic Sciences Department, Faculty of Sciences, Bio-Bio University, Chillán, Chile;Institute of Archaeological Research and Museum, Católica del Norte University, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile;School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom;ICCMISAC - International Consortium for the Conservation Management and Improvement of South American Camelids, Cardiff, United Kingdom;School of Science Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Sciences, Austral of Chile University, Valdivia, Chile;Section for Evolutionary Genomics, the GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;The Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;

关键词: ancient DNA;    camelids;    domestication;    mitochondrial genome;    Tulán;    Other;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.63390

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

The study of South American camelids and their domestication is a highly debated topic in zooarchaeology. Identifying the domestic species (alpaca and llama) in archaeological sites based solely on morphological data is challenging due to their similarity with respect to their wild ancestors. Using genetic methods also presents challenges due to the hybridization history of the domestic species, which are thought to have extensively hybridized following the Spanish conquest of South America that resulted in camelids slaughtered en masse. In this study, we generated mitochondrial genomes for 61 ancient South American camelids dated between 3,500 and 2,400 years before the present (Early Formative period) from two archaeological sites in Northern Chile (Tulán-54 and Tulán-85), as well as 66 modern camelid mitogenomes and 815 modern mitochondrial control region sequences from across South America. In addition, we performed osteometric analyses to differentiate big and small body size camelids. A comparative analysis of these data suggests that a substantial proportion of the ancient vicuña genetic variation has been lost since the Early Formative period, as it is not present in modern specimens. Moreover, we propose a domestication hypothesis that includes an ancient guanaco population that no longer exists. Finally, we find evidence that interbreeding practices were widespread during the domestication process by the early camelid herders in the Atacama during the Early Formative period and predating the Spanish conquest.

【 授权许可】

CC BY