Laboratoire d'Anthropobiologie Moléculaire et d'Imagerie de Synthèse, CNRS UMR 5288, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31000, France; email:
Annu Rev Anim Biosci. 2021 Feb 16;9:81-101. doi: 10.1146/annurev-animal-061220-023118. Epub 2020 Nov 16.
The equid family contains only one single extant genus, , including seven living species grouped into horses on the one hand and zebras and asses on the other. In contrast, the equine fossil record shows that an extraordinarily richer diversity existed in the past and provides multiple examples of a highly dynamic evolution punctuated by several waves of explosive radiations and extinctions, cross-continental migrations, and local adaptations. In recent years, genomic technologies have provided new analytical solutions that have enhanced our understanding of equine evolution, including the species radiation within ; the extinction dynamics of several lineages; and the domestication history of two individual species, the horse and the donkey. Here, we provide an overview of these recent developments and suggest areas for further research.
马科动物仅包含一个现存的单一属， ，其中包括七个现存物种，一方面可分为马，另一方面可分为斑马和驴。相比之下，马科动物的化石记录表明过去存在着极其丰富的多样性，并提供了多个例子，说明了进化的高度动态性，其中包括几次爆发式辐射和灭绝、跨大陆迁徙以及局部适应的间断。近年来，基因组技术提供了新的分析解决方案，增强了我们对马科动物进化的理解，包括 属内物种辐射、几个谱系的灭绝动态以及两个特定物种——马和驴的驯化历史。在这里，我们概述了这些最新的发展，并提出了进一步研究的领域。
