Muhammed Sıddık Kılıç, Tracing Eastern Gene Flow and Population Structure in Anatolian Sheep: Archaeogenomic Insights from The Neolithic to The Present Day
This thesis investigates the demographic history of Anatolian sheep. Sheep are among the most important livestock species, supplying meat, milk and wool. Analysing new genome data from ancient and present-day Anatolian sheep reveals a substantial eastern-related genetic influx after the Neolithic and uncovers a population structure in present-day Turkish breeds defined by geography and tail morphology. Fat-tailed breeds, mainly from eastern Türkiye, show greater genetic affinity to Iron Age Anatolian sheep than thin-tailed breeds do. Conversely, thin-tailed breeds, from western Türkiye, retain more Neolithic-like ancestry than fat-tailed breeds. These findings show how Anatolian sheep gene pool shaped over thousands of years.
Date: 07.07.2025 / 11:00 Place: A-212









