Origin and dispersal of early domestic pigs in northern China
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Published on: August 21, 2021
Hai Xiang1,2, Jianqiang Gao3, Dawei Cai4
1National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding; Ministry of Agricultural Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction; and College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Abstract:
It is widely accepted that modern pigs were domesticated independently at least twice, and Chinese native pigs are deemed as direct descendants of the first domesticated pigs in the corresponding domestication centers. By analyzing mitochondrial DNA sequences of an extensive sample set spanning 10,000 years, we find that the earliest pigs from the middle Yellow River region already carried the maternal lineages that are dominant in both younger archaeological populations and modern Chinese pigs. Our data set also supports early Neolithic pig utilization and a long-term in situ origin for northeastern Chinese pigs during 8,000-3,500 BP, suggesting a possibly independent domestication in northeast China. Additionally, we observe a genetic replacement in ancient northeast Chinese pigs since 3,500 BP. The results not only provide increasing evidence for pig origin in the middle Yellow River region but also depict an outline for the process of early pig domestication in northeast China.
