Artículos de revistas
Ancient DNA reveals the lost domestication history of South American camelids in Northern Chile and across the Andes
Fecha
2021Registro en:
eLife 2021;10:e63390.
10.7554/eLife.63390
Autor
Díaz Maroto, Paloma
Rey Iglesia, Alba
Cartajena Fasting, María Isabel
Núñez, Lautaro
Westbury, Michael V.
Varas, Valeria
Moraga Vergara, Mauricio Leonardo
Campos, Paula F.
Orozco terWengel, Pablo
Marín, Juan Carlos
Hansen, Anders J.
Institución
Resumen
The study of South American camelids and their domestication is a highly debated
topic in zooarchaeology. Identifying the domestic species (alpaca and llama) in archaeological sites
based solely on morphological data is challenging due to their similarity with respect to their wild
ancestors. Using genetic methods also presents challenges due to the hybridization history of the
domestic species, which are thought to have extensively hybridized following the Spanish conquest
of South America that resulted in camelids slaughtered en masse. In this study, we generated
mitochondrial genomes for 61 ancient South American camelids dated between 3,500 and 2,400
years before the present (Early Formative period) from two archaeological sites in Northern Chile
(Tula´ n-54 and Tula´ n-85), as well as 66 modern camelid mitogenomes and 815 modern mitochondrial
control region sequences from across South America. In addition, we performed osteometric
analyses to differentiate big and small body size camelids. A comparative analysis of these data
suggests that a substantial proportion of the ancient vicun˜ a genetic variation has been lost since
the Early Formative period, as it is not present in modern specimens. Moreover, we propose a
domestication hypothesis that includes an ancient guanaco population that no longer exists. Finally,
we find evidence that interbreeding practices were widespread during the domestication process
by the early camelid herders in the Atacama during the Early Formative period and predating the
Spanish conquest.