VOA科学技术2024--Modern Horse Traces Origin to 4200 Years Ago

The horse changed human history. And now scientists have a clearer idea of when humans began to change the horse.

Around 4,200 years ago, one particular lineage of horse quickly became dominant¹ across Eurasia. That is when humans started to spread domesticated² horses around the world, says research published Thursday in the journal Nature.

There was something special about this kind of horse. It had a genetic³ difference that changed the shape of its back, likely making it easier to ride.

"In the past, you had many different lineages of horses," said Pablo Librado. He is an evolutionary⁴ biologist at the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona and co-writer of the new study. The genetic diversity is evidenced in ancient DNA⁵ from archaeological sites across Eurasia dating back as far as 50,000 years.

But, this study of 475 ancient horse genomes showed a notable change around 4,200 years ago.

That is when one lineage first came about in what is known as the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. The area goes from what is now northeastern Bulgaria across Ukraine and through southern Russia. The lineage began to show up all across Eurasia and quickly replaced other lineages. Within three hundred years, the horses in Spain were similar to those in Russia.

"We saw this genetic type spreading almost everywhere in Eurasia," said co-writer Ludovic Orlando, of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse in France. Orlando added that this spread from one place to worldwide was very quick.

The researchers believe that the change began with the people called the Sintashta, who had domesticated their local horse population. They started to use these horses to help them greatly expand their territory.

Domesticating⁶ wild horses on the plains of Eurasia was a process, not a single event, the scientists say.

Earlier studies of ancient teeth remains⁷ found evidence that humans drank horse milk around 5,500 years ago. The earliest evidence of horse ridership dates to around 5,000 years ago. But it was the Sintashta who spread across Eurasia the kind of horses they had domesticated, the new study suggests.

Researchers believe the very earliest horse ancestors arose in North America. Then they spread across the Bering Strait into Asia around a million years ago. They did well in Asia, but went extinct in the Americas.

People had domesticated other animals several thousand years before horses. Animals like dogs, pigs, cattle, goats and sheep all came before horses. But the new research shows that the shrinking genetic diversity linked to domestication⁸ happened much faster in horses.

Humans changed the horse genome very quickly, "perhaps because we already had experience dealing⁹ with animals," said Laurent Frantz. He studies the genetics of ancient creatures at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and was not involved in the study.

"It shows the special place of horses in human societies," he said.

Words in This Story

lineage - n. descent in a line from a common progenitor¹⁰

domestic - adj. adapted over time (as by selective breeding) from a wild or natural state to life in close association with and to the benefit of humans

dominant - adj. commanding, controlling, or prevailing¹¹ over all others

diversity - n. the condition of having or being composed of differing elements

genome - n. the genetic material of an organism

1 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

2 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

5 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

6 domesticating   

v.驯化( domesticate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Domesticating rabbits are the basis of a profitbale fur industry. 驯养野兔是赚钱的毛皮工业的基础。 来自互联网
• In addition, the extent of a facsimile of culture, foreignizing and domesticating are important in translation. 此外，翻译中“文化传真”度的把握，以及译语的异化与归化都至关重要。 来自互联网

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 domestication   

n.驯养，驯化

参考例句：

• The first was the domestication of animals. 第一个阶段是驯养动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In northwestern China, there is no evidence for endemic domestication of any animals. 在中国西北，没有任何当地动物驯化的迹象。 来自辞典例句

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 progenitor   

n.祖先，先驱

参考例句：

• He was also a progenitor of seven presidents of Nicaragua.他也是尼加拉瓜7任总统的祖先。
• Schoenberg was a progenitor of modern music.勋伯格是一位现代音乐的先驱。

11 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。