西欧亚草原家马的起源和传播 ，这一成果由法国保罗萨巴蒂尔大学Ludovic Orlando研究小组经过不懈努力而取得。该研究成果于2021年10月20日发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员将欧亚西部草原，尤其是伏尔加河下游地区确定为现代家养马的起源地。

此外，研究利用273种古马基因组绘制了伴随驯化的种群变化图。这表明现代家马最终取代了几乎所有其他当地品种，因为它们从公元前2000年左右开始在欧亚大陆迅速扩张，与马术物质文化同步，包括Sintashta辐条轮战车。研究发现马术对调控关键运动和行为适应的基因GSDMC和ZFPM1进行了强选择。该研究结果否定了骑马与公元前 3000年左右颜那亚草原牧民大规模扩张到欧洲之间普遍存在的关联，该扩张推动了印欧语言的传播。这与公元前2000年初辛塔什塔文化之后，印度-伊朗语言、战车和马匹一起传播的亚洲情景形成了鲜明对比。 

研究人员表示，马的驯化从根本上改变了远程旅行和战争。然而，依据缰绳、产奶和畜栏的考古证据，现代驯化品种并非源自于约公元前3500年中亚Botai地区发现的最早驯养马谱系。其他长期存在的马驯化候选地区，例如Iberia 和Anatolia，最近也受到了争议。因此，现代家养马的遗传、地理和时间起源仍然未知。

附：英文原文

Title: The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

Author: Librado, Pablo, Khan, Naveed, Fages, Antoine, Kusliy, Mariya A., Suchan, Tomasz, Tonasso-Calvire, Laure, Schiavinato, Stphanie, Alioglu, Duha, Fromentier, Aurore, Perdereau, Aude, Aury, Jean-Marc, Gaunitz, Charleen, Chauvey, Lorelei, Seguin-Orlando, Andaine, Der Sarkissian, Clio, Southon, John, Shapiro, Beth, Tishkin, Alexey A., Kovalev, Alexey A., Alquraishi, Saleh, Alfarhan, Ahmed H., Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S., Seregly, Timo, Klassen, Lutz, Iversen, Rune, Bignon-Lau, Olivier, Bodu, Pierre, Olive, Monique, Castel, Jean-Christophe, Boudadi-Maligne, Myriam, Alvarez, Nadir, Germonpr, Mietje, Moskal-del Hoyo, Magdalena, Wilczyski, Jarosaw, Pospua, Sylwia, Lasota-Ku, Anna, Tunia, Krzysztof, Nowak, Marek, Ranname, Eve, Saarma, Urmas, Boeskorov, Gennady, Lugas, Lembi, Kysel, Ren, Peke, Lubomr, Blescu, Adrian, Dumitracu, Valentin, Dobrescu, Roxana, Gerber, Daniel, Kiss, Viktria, Szcsnyi-Nagy, Anna, Mende, Balzs G., Gallina, Zsolt, Somogyi, Krisztina, Kulcsr, Gabriella, Gl, Erika, Bendrey, Robin, Allentoft, Morten E., Sirbu, Ghenadie, Dergachev, Valentin, Shephard, Henry, Tomadini, Nomie, Grouard, Sandrine, Kasparov, Aleksei, Basilyan, Alexander E., Anisimov, Mikhail A., Nikolskiy, Pavel A., Pavlova, Elena Y., Pitulko, Vladimir, Brem, Gottfried, Wallner, Barbara, Schwall, Christoph, Keller, Marcel

Issue&Volume: 2021-10-20

Abstract: Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare1. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling2,3,4 at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC3. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia5 and Anatolia6, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association7 between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC8,9 driving the spread of Indo-European languages10. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture11,12.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04018-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04018-9