Tracking the Near Eastern origins and European dispersal of the western house mouse

Thomas Cucchi (1) , Katerina Papayianni (1, 2) , Sophie Cersoy (3) , Laetitia Aznar-Cormano (4) , Antoine Zazzo (1) , Régis Debruyne (5) , Rémi Berthon (1) , Adrian Bălășescu (6) , Alan Simmons (7) , François Valla (8) , Yannis Hamilakis (9) , Fanis Mavridis (10) , Marjan Mashkour (1) , Jamshid Darvish (11) , Roohollah Siahsarvi (11) , Fereidoun Biglari (12) , Cameron A Petrie (13) , Lloyd Weeks (14) , Alireza Sardari (15) , Sepideh Maziar (16) , Christiane Denys (17) , David Orton (18) , Emma Jenkins (19) , Melinda Zeder (20) , Jeremy Searle (21) , Greger Larson (22) , François Bonhomme (23) , Jean-Christophe Auffray (23) , Jean-Denis Vigne (1)

1 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
2 Wiener Laboratory
3 CRC - Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation
4 CR2P - Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris
5 DGD.REVE - Direction générale déléguée à la Recherche, à l’Expertise, à la Valorisation et à l’Enseignement-Formation
6 Institute of Archaeology Vasile Parvan
7 DRI - Desert Research Institute
8 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
9 Brown University
10 Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology–Speleology
11 FUM - Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
12 Center for Paleolithic Research
13 CAM - University of Cambridge [UK]
14 School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
15 Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), Tehran, Iran
16 Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
17 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
18 BioArch - Departments of Archaeology [York]
19 BU - Bournemouth University [Poole]
20 Smithsonian Institution
21 Cornell University [New York]
22 University of Oxford
23 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier

the house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. to track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000 cal. BP, combining geometric morphometrics numerical taxonomy, ancient mitochondrial DnA and direct radiocarbon dating. We found that large late hunter-gatherer sedentary settlements in the Levant, c. 14,500 cal. BP, promoted the commensal behaviour of the house mouse, which probably led the commensal pathway to cat domestication. House mouse invasive spread was then fostered through the emergence of agriculture throughout the Near East 12,000 years ago. Stowaway transport of house mice to Cyprus can be inferred as early as

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Thomas Cucchi, Katerina Papayianni, Sophie Cersoy, Laetitia Aznar-Cormano, Antoine Zazzo, et al.. Tracking the Near Eastern origins and European dispersal of the western house mouse. Scientific Reports, 2020, 10, pp.8276. ⟨10.1038/s41598-020-64939-9⟩. ⟨hal-02863651⟩