"Apples are from Kazakhstan" but horses aren’t

Przewalski's horses. Image from the Russian Geographical Society

It has been long argued that horses and horse domestication occurred in Kazakhstan about 5,000 years ago. However, a recent study looking at ancient horse DNA now suggest that theory is fails and modern horse evolved from an unidentified horse lineage. The study also showed that the last of the wild horses living today, the Przewalski's horse, are not actually wild horses, but domesticated horses that escape from their handlers--the Botai--thousands of years ago. The aDNA sampled also held another surprise, the ancient horse sampled was on its own branch separate from modern horses of today, indicating modern horses are not descendants of the ancient Botai horses that has been the hypothesis for many years. The researchers hope to clarify and identify where horses originate from by looking at ancient human DNA and their migration pattern at that time and in the region of Central Asia to find the horse population all modern day horses branched off from.

The read the Science Magazine press release click here. For the actual Science article click here.