The origin of the last remaining wild horses

Przewalski’s horses are listed as last wild species of horses, but genome studies demonstrate that all remaining specimens of Przewalski’s horses are descendants of formerly domesticated animals.

Project details
Duration: since 05/2010
Third-party funded: yes
Involved Department(s): Dept Evolutionary Genetics
Leibniz-IZW Project Leader(s): Arne Ludwig (Dept Evolutionary Genetics)
Leibniz-IZW Project Team: Dietmar Lieckfeldt (Dept Evolutionary Genetics)
Consortium Partner(s): University of Copenhagen (Denmark), University of Potsdam
Current Funding Organisation: German Science Foundation (DFG)
Research Foci: Understanding traits and evolutionary adaptations
 
Przewalski’s horses are called the last remaining wild horses but became extinct in the wild in the 1960s only surviving in captivity. The current still endangered population is mainly reared in captivity but one-quarter of them has been released in Chinese and Mongolian reserves. An international research consortium discovered in comparative genome studies that all living Przewalski’s horses are descendants of formerly domesticated animals and not truly wild horses. Many genes involved in metabolism, cardiac disorders, muscle contraction, reproduction, behaviour, signaling pathways, body size and coat coloration are altered by their former domestication and do influencing restoration in present days.
 

Selected Publications

Fages A, Hanghøj K, Khan N, Gaunitz C, Seguin-Orlando A, Leonardi M, McCrory Constantz C, Gamba C, Al-Rasheid KAS, Albizuri S, Alfarhan AH, Allentoft M, Alquraishi S, Anthony D, Baimukhanov N, Barrett JH, Bayarsaikhan J, Benecke N, Bernáldez-Sánchez E, Berrocal-Rangel L, Biglari F, Boessenkool S, Boldgiv B, Brem G, Brown D, Burger J, Crubézy E, Daugnora L, Davoudi H, de Barros Damgaard P, de Los Ángeles de Chorro Y de Villa-Ceballos M, Deschler-Erb S, Detry C, Dill N, do Mar Oom M, Dohr A, Ellingvåg S, Erdenebaatar D, Fathi H, Felkel S, Fernández-Rodríguez C, García-Viñas E, Germonpré M, Granado JD, Hallsson JH, Hemmer H, Hofreiter M, Kasparov A, Khasanov M, Khazaeli R, Kosintsev P, Kristiansen K, Kubatbek T, Kuderna L, Kuznetsov P, Laleh H, Leonard JA, Lhuillier J, Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck C, Logvin A, Lõugas L, Ludwig A, Luis C, Arruda AM, Marques-Bonet T, Matoso Silva R, Merz V, Mijiddorj E, Miller BK, Mochlov O, Mohaseb FA, Morales A, Nieto-Espinet A, Nistelberger H, Onar V, Pálsdóttir AH, Pitulko V, Pitskhelauri K, Pruvost M, Rajic Sikanjic P, Rapan Papeša A, Roslyakova N, Sardari A, Sauer E, Schafberg R, Scheu A, Schibler J, Schlumbaum A, Serrand N, Serres-Armero A, Shapiro B, Sheikhi Seno S, Shevnina I, Shidrang S, Southon J, Star B, Sykes N, Taheri K, Taylor W, Teegen WR, Trbojević Vukičević T, Trixl S, Tumen D, Undrakhbold S, Usmanova E, Vahdati A, Valenzuela-Lamas S, Viegas C, Wallner B, Weinstock J, Zaibert V, Clavel B, Lepetz S, Mashkour M, Helgason A, Stefánsson K, Barrey E, Willerslev E, Outram AK, Librado P, Orlando L (2019): Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series. CELL 177,1419-1435.e31. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.049.

Wutke S*, Sandoval-Castellanos E*, Benecke N, Döhle H-J, Friederich S, Gonzalez J, Hofreiter M, Lõugas L, Magnell O, Malaspinas A-S, Morales-Muñiz A, Orlando L, Reissmann M, Trinks A, Ludwig A (2018): Decline of genetic diversity in ancient domestic stallions in Europe. SCI ADV 4, eaap9691. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aap9691.

Gaunitz C, Fages A, Hanghøj K, Albrechtsen A, Khan N, Schubert M, Seguin-Orlando A, Owens IJ, Felkel S, Bignon-Lau O, de Barros Damgaard P, Mittnik A, Mohaseb AF, Davoudi H, Alquraishi S, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid KAS, Crubézy E, Benecke N, Olsen S, Brown D, Anthony D, Massy K, Pitulko V, Kasparov A, Brem G, Hofreiter M, Mukhtarova G, Baimukhanov N, Lõugas L, Onar V, Stockhammer PW, Krause J, Boldgiv B, Undrakhbold S, Erdenebaatar D, Lepetz S, Mashkour M, Ludwig A, Wallner B, Merz V, Merz I, Zaibert V, Willerslev E, Librado P, Outram AK, Orlando L (2018): Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski’s horses. SCIENCE 360, 111-114. doi:10.1126/science.aao3297.

Librado P, Gamba C, Gaunitz C, Der Sarkissian C, Pruvost M, Albrechtsen A, Fages A, Khan N, Schubert M, Jagannathan V, Serres-Armero A, Kuderna LFK, Povolotskaya IS, Seguin-Orlando A, Lepetz S, Neuditschko M, Thèves C, Alquraishi S, Alfarhan AH, Al-Rasheid K, Rieder S, Samashev Z, Francfort H-P, Benecke N, Hofreiter M, Ludwig A, Keyser C, Marques-Bonet T, Ludes B, Crubézy E, Leeb T, Willerslev E, Orlando L (2017): Ancient genomic changes associated with domestication of the horse. SCIENCE 356, 442-445. doi:10.1126/science.aam5298.

Wutke S, Andersson L, Benecke N, Sandoval-Castellanos E, Gonzalez J, Hallsson JH, Lõugas L, Magnell O, Morales-Muniz A, Orlando L, Pálsdóttir AH, Reissmann M, Muñoz-Rodríguez MB, Ruttkay M, Trinks A, Hofreiter M, Ludwig A (2016): The origin of ambling horses. CURR BIOL 26, R697–R699. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001.

Der Sarkissian C, Ermini L, Schubert M, Yang MA, Librado P, Fumagalli M, Jonsson H, Kahila Bar-Gal G, Albrechtsen A, Vieira FG, Petersen B, Ginolhac A, Seguin-Orlando A, Magnussen K, Fages A, Gamba C, Lorente-Galdos B, Polani S, Steiner C, Neuditschko M, Jagannathan V, Feh C, Greenblatt CL, Ludwig A, Abramson NI, Zimmermann W, Schafberg R, Tikhonov A, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Willerslev E, Marques-Bonet T, Ryder OA, McCue M, Rieder S, Leeb T, Slatkin M, Orlando L (2015): Evolutionary genomics and conservation of the endangered Przewalski’s horse. CURR BIOL 25, 2577-2583. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.032.