Geneticists are interested in a long time for the beginnings of farming. Aurochs gene are considered the ancestors of modern cattle. Now it was possible to reconstruct the gene pool from which derived ultimately the Milka cow. The study shows that it cannot have been more than 80 bison that were first domesticated 10,000 years ago in the Middle East.

A small herd of origin was the basis for the cattle. Of these 80, formerly wild aurochs come from all of today's domestic cattle. This could prove a genetic study now. The international team of researchers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom compared to DNA sequences of modern cattle with traces derived from historical bone from Iran. They came from animals that lived immediately after the domestication. The researchers found only minor differences. This can only be explained if the initial bovine gene pool was so small. For the explanation of the origin of the differences found, the researchers used computer simulations that they played by the genetic evolution. The result: The difference could only be explained if the initial population consisted of 80 animals.

The gene pool studies confirm a guess that the first aurochs were domesticated about 10,500 years ago in the Middle East. Here many of today worldwide spread livestock such as pigs, cattle, sheep and goats have their origin. The people who once in the region of the Fertile Crescent were (here today are the states of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran), lived the first to operate mixed farming. That was also already known.

The domestic cattle were bred from the aurochs gene pool. The history of domestication began in the area of the Fertile Crescent. But now, scientists can estimate the exact numbers that people began raising cattle. And it just came out that 80 bison from which all of today's domestic cattle descended. The low number surprised even the experts, because they had given the boundary distribution of the wild aurochs in Europe and Asia can expect more opportunities for domestication. However, the current study results are consistent with the archaeological finds. They talked so far for the taming of the wild cattle in a small area between the south-eastern Turkey and Syria.

Today there are an estimated 1.5 billion cattle in the world. They are important meat and dairy suppliers. Earlier, people underestimated their power and stressed the animals, for example, to the plow. Nowadays, the impact of agriculture on the environment much debated topics. The dung from the cattle generated by digestion with methane emissions help in reducing the greenhouse effect.

The study of the gene pool of cattle from Middle East was published in the scientific journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.