These were congas, the first hybrids made by humans

team made up of Geneticists, archaeologists, and paleontologists believe they have solved the identity of a mysterious equine that lived during Antigua Mesopotamia. the Eastanimal conga, A cross between a donkey and a Syrian wild donkey.

The Kongas were animals Mesopotamia value and cost Up to six times more What a donkey these are They were big animals used before Kings to pull they war chariots or His imperial chariots, while the smaller congas were used in agriculture. But his identity bears Long ago in dispute, as Some researchers think so It was simply congas Kind of a wild ass.

To discover the true identity of the conga, researchers analyzed a few of them ancient skeletons they were buried In Syria for the purpose of studying Their genetic material and scan thisunknown about him toThe evolutionary history of the genus Equus. the findings I know published End of this week en Science Advances.

“Combining very old genometreatment during “The analysis of these very old genome Balance a controversy It’s very old and I’m working on it the first horses Hybrids Created by humans, highlighting their essential role in the ‘art of war’ centuries before the first domestic horses arrived in the area.”

Hybrid animals are the result of breeding between different species. Most animals are always sterile (eg mules, a hybrid between donkey and horse, or leger, a hybrid between lion and tiger), which means that it must be deliberately bred Individually. The size and speed of the congas make them more useful than donkeys in the clouds the cars.

The team analyzed 25 horse skeletons found in a cemetery near Aleppo From Syrian elite what’s wrong with that more than 4500 years. Some animals seem to have been deliberately killed for burial. Analysis of the horses indicated that these creatures were not horses or donkeys. This led researchers to believe it could be a hybrid animal. The teeth of the skeletons were worn, suggesting that they were wearing them Pieces and bridles.

To certify the identity of the skeletons, the team compared genetic samples from the bones with other samples that had been discovered in a famous site Turkish archaeological Göbekli Tepe and with the last survivors of Syrian donkeys (which are already dead) preserved in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

theThe researchers found that samples It was received in Turkey they were Of the same species as animals Austria formed The paternal lineage of skeletons in Syria. Donkey (E. africanus) was part ofmaternal lineage mysterious horses s Syrian wild ass (E. hemionus) was part ofpaternal lineage. Later, Syrian wild donkeys were smaller than congas, the team believed The surviving wild donkeys were descendants of smaller than the first members of the species.

“It’s amazing to see how These ancient societies dominated Something as complicated as breeding hybrids, because it was an intentional business: they had a domestic donkey, they knew they couldn’t tame the Syrian wild ass and they couldn’t They tamed He said “horses”. Jijel . “So Intentionally developing a strategy to breed two different species and Hence the combination of Various properties which they found desirable in each of these Species“.