by Nate MacKay
January 14, 2022
https://www.courthousenews.com/research ... by-humans/
Introduction:
(Courthouse News) — Scientists announced Friday they have used genome sequencing to uncover the earliest known evidence of humans breeding hybrid animals.
According to research published in the journal Science Advances, researchers determined that 4,500-year-old skeletons from the horse family found buried in modern-day northern Syria are most likely domesticated hybrid animals called kungas that can be traced to the Bronze Age of Mesopotamia.
The research indicates the people were breeding kungas more than 500 years before the first domestic horses were introduced to the area. Crosses between domesticated female donkeys and male Syrian wild asses, kungas have long been at the center of debate among specialists.
“We have a pretty good answer to a debate that lasted for decades,” said Eva-Maria Geigl, one of the paper’s authors from the Institut Jacques Monod in France. “These are the most ancient human-made hybrids that we know.”
Geigl said kungas are documented as a distinct animal on ancient tablets and seals dating back to 2500 BC, often with four of them pulling warriors to war in wagons. Researchers knew the animals depicted were not horses because the domestic horses were not yet in the area and the drawings showed tails like that of a donkey.