Recent experiments and simulations are starting to answer some fundamental questions about how life came to be.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Radoslaw Lecyk.
-
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.
-
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.
-
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
-
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
-
Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. GQ303154–GQ303167).
-
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0909724107/DCSupplemental.
Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication
Sign up for Article Alerts
Jump to section
You May Also be Interested in
Launched in 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 are still helping to resolve past controversies even as they help spark a new one: the true shape of the heliosphere.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Heavy hydrogen makes heavy water more dense and raises its boiling point. It also appears to affect another characteristic long rumored: taste.
Image credit: Shutterstock/sl_photo.
Jonathon Yuly, David Beratan, and Peng Zhang investigate how electron bifurcation reactions work.
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.