Forests became less diverse when ancient people started herding pigs

Historic DNA unearthed from a European rock shelter means that native herders tended goats and sheep greater than 5000 years in the past, however switched to primarily pigs 2000 years later – proper about when the encompassing forests grew to become a lot much less biodiverse.

Though additional analysis is required, the findings trace that protecting pigs – which root the bottom and are far much less choosy eaters than goats and sheep – might need performed a task in how fashionable forests took form. The invention gives sturdy proof that analysing historic sedimentary DNA can…