World's last remaining wild horses aren't really wild after all

[Judi Lynn]

FEBRUARY 22, 2018 / 7:24 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Will Dunham

Przewalski’s horse, now numbering roughly 2,000 in Mongolia, was long thought to be the last wild horse -- meaning no history of domestication -- unlike other free-roaming horses like the mustangs of the western United States that descended from steeds brought to North America centuries ago by Spaniards.

But researchers said on Thursday an examination of the genomes of dozens of ancient and modern horses concluded that Przewalski’s horse, saved from extinction in the 20th century, descended from horses domesticated in northern Kazakhstan some 5,500 years ago by people in what is called the Botai culture.

The research showed that the Botai culture offers the earliest-known evidence for horse domestication, but that their horses were not the ancestors of modern domesticated breeds.

“The world lost truly wild horses perhaps hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, but we are only just now learning this fact, with the results of this research,” said University of Kansas zooarchaeologist Sandra Olsen, one of the researchers.

More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-science-horse/worlds-last-remaining-wild-horses-arent-really-wild-after-all-idUKKCN1G702O

Przewalski’s horse images:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrB8qEFo49a3QYAZgKLuLkF;_ylc=X1MDOTYwNTc0ODMEX3IDMgRiY2sDZWFlcjdmOWNnbDI5ZyUyNmIlM0Q0JTI2ZCUzRGZFVE9PSzFyWUgzS3VfNWJGaWk4THF3a19jX3JYc19ya1E2azM1dGQ0N2NwM1EtLSUyNnMlM0RkayUyNmklM0QzM3VxbUxPUWdlcU9kQ0s5NnlkVgRmcgMEZ3ByaWQDbFlaQkluTVVUbUtEeE9fdXJiS2s1QQRtdGVzdGlkA251bGwEbl9zdWdnAzEwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMxOARxdWVyeQNQcnpld2Fsc2tpXMgaG9yc2UEdF9zdG1wAzE1MTkzNjI4MjYEdnRlc3RpZANudWxs?gprid=lYZBInMUTmKDxO_urbKk5A&pvid=UP7GVDEwLjHlO2d6WQqJMAALMjYwMAAAAAA5O9v4&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&p=Przewalski’s+horse&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Good, now we don't have to learn how to pronounce their name. nt

[Beartracks]

2. (p)shə-VAHL-skee

You're welcome!

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[brush]

3. Descended from domesticated horses hundreds of years ago but wild now, just like the mustangs

That's good enough for me.