The origin of ambling horses


Por: Wutke, Saskia, Andersson, Leif, Benecke, Norbert, Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson, Gonzalez, Javier, Hallsson, Jon Hallsteinn, Lougas, Lembi, Magnell, Ola, Morales-Muniz, Arturo, Orlando, Ludovic, Palsdottir, Albina Hulda, Reissmann, Monika, Munoz-Rodriguez, Mariana B., Ruttkay, Matej, Trinks, Alexandra, Hofreiter, Michael, Ludwig, Arne

Publicada: 8 ago 2016
Resumen:
Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called ‘gaited’ horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal cord interneurons and plays an important role in the development of limb movement coordination [1]. Genotyping the position in 4396 modern horses from 141 breeds revealed that nowadays the mutated allele is distributed worldwide with an especially high frequency in gaited horses and breeds used for harness racing [2]. Here, we examine historic horse remains for the DMRT3 SNP, tracking the origin of gaitedness to Medieval England between 850 and 900 AD. The presence of the corresponding allele in Icelandic horses (9th–11th century) strongly suggests that ambling horses were brought from the British Isles to Iceland by Norse people. Considering the high frequency of the ambling allele in early Icelandic horses, we believe that Norse settlers selected for this comfortable mode of horse riding soon after arrival. The absence of the allele in samples from continental Europe (including Scandinavia) at this time implies that ambling horses may have spread from Iceland and maybe also the British Isles across the continent at a later date. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Filiaciones:
Wutke, Saskia:
 Leibniz Inst Zoo & Wildlife Res, Dept Evolutionary Genet, Alfred Kowalke Str 17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany

Andersson, Leif:
 Uppsala Univ, Dept Med Biochem & Microbiol, S-75123 Uppsala, Sweden

 Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Anim Breeding & Genet, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden

Benecke, Norbert:
 German Archaeol Inst, Dept Nat Sci, D-14195 Berlin, Germany

Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson:
 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Ciencias Complejidad, Mexico City, DF, Mexico

Gonzalez, Javier:
 Univ Potsdam, Inst Biochem & Biol, Fac Math & Nat Sci, Karl Liebknecht Str 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany

Hallsson, Jon Hallsteinn:
 Agr Univ Iceland, Fac Land & Anim Resources, IS-112 Reykjavik, Iceland

Lougas, Lembi:
 Tallinn Univ, Archaeol Res Collect, Ruutli 10, EE-10130 Tallinn, Estonia

Magnell, Ola:
 Natl Hist Museums, Contract Archaeol, S-22660 Lund, Sweden

Morales-Muniz, Arturo:
 Univ Autonoma Madrid, Lab Archaeozool, Madrid, Spain

Orlando, Ludovic:
 Univ Copenhagen, Nat Hist Museum Denmark, Ctr GeoGenet, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Palsdottir, Albina Hulda:
 Agr Univ Iceland, Fac Land & Anim Resources, IS-112 Reykjavik, Iceland

Reissmann, Monika:
 Humboldt Univ, Fac Life Sci, Albrecht Daniel Thaer Inst, D-10115 Berlin, Germany

Munoz-Rodriguez, Mariana B.:
 Univ York, Dept Archaeol, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England

Ruttkay, Matej:
 Slovak Acad Sci, Inst Archaeol, Nitra 94921, Slovakia

Trinks, Alexandra:
 Univ Potsdam, Inst Biochem & Biol, Fac Math & Nat Sci, Karl Liebknecht Str 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany

Hofreiter, Michael:
 Univ Potsdam, Inst Biochem & Biol, Fac Math & Nat Sci, Karl Liebknecht Str 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany

Ludwig, Arne:
 Leibniz Inst Zoo & Wildlife Res, Dept Evolutionary Genet, Alfred Kowalke Str 17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany
ISSN: 09609822
Editorial
Cell Press, 600 TECHNOLOGY SQUARE, 5TH FLOOR, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02139 USA, Estados Unidos America
Tipo de documento: Letter
Volumen: 26 Número: 15
Páginas: 697-699
WOS Id: 000381241100004
ID de PubMed: 27505236

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