Bony labyrinth taxonomic identification and long-term evolution of livestock in the Southwest and Central Asia

@article{guignet2026bony,
  title = {{Bony labyrinth taxonomic identification and long-term evolution of livestock in the Southwest and Central Asia}},
  author = {Agathe Guignet and Hossein Davoudi and Adeline Hemelsdaël and Delphine Decruyenaere and Adeline Vautrin and Renaud Lebrun and Romain Peronnet and Homa Fathi and Hitomi Hongo and Sarieh Amiri and Sanaz Beizaee Doost and Roya Khazaeli and Karyne Debue and Asma Ayoob Khiljee and Safoora Kamjan and Azadeh F. Mohaseb and Yasmine Martin and Rémi Berthon and Emmanuelle Vila and Jacopo Bruno and Abolfazl Aali and Akbar Abedi and Ahmad Aliyari and Mohammad H. Azizi Kharanaghi and Fereidoun Biglari and Raffaele Biscione and Alisher Begmatov and Amridin Berdimuradov and Gennadiy Bogomolov and Nicole Boenke and Julien Cuny and Aurore Didier and Iulon Gagoshidze and Irina Gambashidze and Bruno Genito and Teramura Hirofumi and Mohsen Javeri and Hossein A. Kavosh and Morteza Khanipour and Haeedeh Laleh and Zahra Lorzadeh and Zurab Makharadze and Catherine Marro and Jamal Mirzaakhmedov and Niloufar Moghimi and Tomomi Murakami and Reza Naseri and Jebrael Nokandeh and Marina Puturidze and Babak Rafiei-Alavi and Sobir Raimkulov and Roghayeh Rahimi Sorkhani and Rocco Rante and Elena Rova and Muminxon Saidov and Alisher Sandiboev and Eberhard Sauer and Ali Sajadi and Ali Shojaee-Esfahani and Denis Sorokin},
  journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1098/rsos.261493},
  url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261493/483563/Bony-labyrinth-taxonomic-identification-and-long},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Bony labyrinth taxonomic identification and long-term evolution of livestock in the Southwest and Central Asia
AU  - Agathe Guignet
AU  - Hossein Davoudi
AU  - Adeline Hemelsdaël
AU  - Delphine Decruyenaere
AU  - Adeline Vautrin
AU  - Renaud Lebrun
AU  - Romain Peronnet
AU  - Homa Fathi
AU  - Hitomi Hongo
AU  - Sarieh Amiri
AU  - Sanaz Beizaee Doost
AU  - Roya Khazaeli
AU  - Karyne Debue
AU  - Asma Ayoob Khiljee
AU  - Safoora Kamjan
AU  - Azadeh F. Mohaseb
AU  - Yasmine Martin
AU  - Rémi Berthon
AU  - Emmanuelle Vila
AU  - Jacopo Bruno
AU  - Abolfazl Aali
AU  - Akbar Abedi
AU  - Ahmad Aliyari
AU  - Mohammad H. Azizi Kharanaghi
AU  - Fereidoun Biglari
AU  - Raffaele Biscione
AU  - Alisher Begmatov
AU  - Amridin Berdimuradov
AU  - Gennadiy Bogomolov
AU  - Nicole Boenke
AU  - Julien Cuny
AU  - Aurore Didier
AU  - Iulon Gagoshidze
AU  - Irina Gambashidze
AU  - Bruno Genito
AU  - Teramura Hirofumi
AU  - Mohsen Javeri
AU  - Hossein A. Kavosh
AU  - Morteza Khanipour
AU  - Haeedeh Laleh
AU  - Zahra Lorzadeh
AU  - Zurab Makharadze
AU  - Catherine Marro
AU  - Jamal Mirzaakhmedov
AU  - Niloufar Moghimi
AU  - Tomomi Murakami
AU  - Reza Naseri
AU  - Jebrael Nokandeh
AU  - Marina Puturidze
AU  - Babak Rafiei-Alavi
AU  - Sobir Raimkulov
AU  - Roghayeh Rahimi Sorkhani
AU  - Rocco Rante
AU  - Elena Rova
AU  - Muminxon Saidov
AU  - Alisher Sandiboev
AU  - Eberhard Sauer
AU  - Ali Sajadi
AU  - Ali Shojaee-Esfahani
AU  - Denis Sorokin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - Royal Society Open Science
DO  - 10.1098/rsos.261493
UR  - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261493/483563/Bony-labyrinth-taxonomic-identification-and-long
AB  - Southwest and Central Asia were pivotal regions for the domestication and dispersal of domestic herbivores. Here we investigate long-term variation in bony labyrinth morphology of domestic bovids (sheep, goats and cattle) across the last 10 000 years. We focused on the osseous cavity of the inner ear, located within the petrous bone. We analysed semicircular canal (SC) size and shape using micro-computed tomography and geometric morphometrics (GMM) on 78 modern reference specimens and 234 archaeological petrous bones from 51 sites spanning the Iranian Plateau, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Indus Valley. Bony labyrinth morphometrics yielded a strong taxonomic signal, enabling species-level identification of 228 out of 234 specimens and revealing greater diversity than anticipated. Comparative analyses further documented contrasting, nonlinear diachronic trajectories in SC size and shape among sheep, goats and cattle, reflecting species-specific responses to domestication and long-term herd management. Together, these results demonstrate that bony labyrinth GMM provides a robust, non-destructive framework for taxonomic identification and evolutionary inference and underscore how long-term, interdisciplinary approaches can capture the complex, nonlinear dynamics of animal domestication across the longue durée.
SN  - 2054-5703
ER  -