An Unusual Pattern of Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups in Northern African Cattle
Marina S. Ascunce, Andrew Kitchen, Peter R. Schmidt, Michael M. Miyamoto, and Connie J. Mulligan (2007) In this note, we report on a newly acquired ancient DNA sequence of the mitochondrial control region for cattle (Bos taurus), as obtained from a 900-yr-old archaeological sample from Eritrea, Northeastern Africa. In combination with 4 other ancient DNA sequences from Mali, Northwestern Africa, we hypothesize that Northern African cattle were more polymorphic, ca. 900-2000 yr ago, because of the greater frequency of a mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (T/T3) that is presently rare in Africa but otherwise common throughout the greater Mediterranean region.
Keywords
Ancient DNA, Mitochondrial control region, Bos taurus, Northern Africa.
