Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication
- aAncient DNA Laboratory, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada;
- bDepartment of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164;
- cSchool of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164; and
- dDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
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Edited by Kent V. Flannery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and approved December 28, 2009 (received for review August 25, 2009)

Abstract
Although the cultural and nutritive importance of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) to precontact Native Americans and contemporary people worldwide is clear, little is known about the domestication of this bird compared to other domesticates. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of 149 turkey bones and 29 coprolites from 38 archaeological sites (200 BC–AD 1800) reveals a unique domesticated breed in the precontact Southwestern United States. Phylogeographic analyses indicate that this domestic breed originated from outside the region, but rules out the South Mexican domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo) as a progenitor. A strong genetic bottleneck within the Southwest turkeys also reflects intensive human selection and breeding. This study points to at least two occurrences of turkey domestication in precontact North America and illuminates the intensity and sophistication of New World animal breeding practices.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: donyang{at}sfu.ca or bmkemp{at}wsu.edu.
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Author contributions: C.F.S., B.M.K., W.D.L., and D.Y.Y. designed research; C.F.S., B.M.K., S.D.W., C.M., and U.M.A. performed research; C.F.S., B.M.K., S.D.W., C.M., and D.Y.Y. analyzed data; and C.F.S., B.M.K., W.D.L., and D.Y.Y. wrote the paper.
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
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Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. GQ303154–GQ303167).
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This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0909724107/DCSupplemental.