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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/226332
The genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age
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Horses have inhabited Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal) since the Middle Pleistocene, shaping a complex history in the region. Iberia has been proposed as a potential domestication centre and is renowned for producing world-class bloodlines. Here, we generate genome-wide sequence data from 87 ancient horse specimens (median coverage = 0.97X) from Iberia and the broader Mediterranean to reconstruct their genetic history over the last ~26,000 years. Here, we report that wild horses of the divergent IBE lineage inhabited Iberia from the Late Pleistocene, while domesticated DOM2 horses, native from the Pontic-Caspian steppes, already arrived ~1850 BCE. Admixture dating suggests breeding practices involving continued wild restocking until at least ~350 BCE, with IBE disappearing shortly after. Patterns of genetic affinity highlight the far-reaching influence of Iberian bloodlines across Europe and north Africa during the Iron Age and Antiquity, with continued impact extending thereafter, particularly during the colonization of the Americas.
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LIRA GARRIDO, Jaime, et al. The genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age. Science Advances. 2025. Vol. ( 2025), num. 16:7098, pags. 1-14. [consulted: 12 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/226332