Bones geometric morphometrics illustrate 10th millennium cal. BP domestication of autochthonous Cypriot wild boar (Sus scrofa circeus nov. ssp).

Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers from the Near East introduced wild boars (Sus scrofa) to Cyprus, with the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) settlers hunting the wild descendants of these boars. However, the geographic origin of the Cypriot boar and how they were integrated into the earliest forms of pig husbandry remain unsolved. Here, we present data on 11,000 to 9000 cal. BP Sus scrofa from the PPN sites of Klimonas and Shillourokambos. We compared them to contemporaneous populations from the Near East and to Neolithic and modern populations in Corsica, exploring their origin and evolution using biosystematic signals from molar teeth and heel bones (calcanei), using 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics. We found that the Cypriot PPN lineage of Sus scrofa originates from the Northern Levant. Yet, their phenotypic idiosyncrasy suggest that they evolved into an insular sub-species that we named Sus scrofa circeus, referring to Circe, the metamorphosis goddess that changed Ulysses companions into pigs. The phenotypic homogeneity among PPNA Klimonas wild boars and managed populations of PPNB Shillourokambos suggests that local domestication has been undertaken on the endemic S. s. circeus, strengthening the idea that Cyprus was integrated into the core region of animal domestication.

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe.

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process.

Where have all the doctors gone? Career choices of Wits medical graduates.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the distribution of University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) medical graduates from 1960 to 1994 with regard to private or public sector work, chosen specialist or generalist careers, and work in urban or rural areas, looking for secular trends and gender differences. DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of the register of what was then the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC) and a telephone interview survey of a sample of medical graduates, collecting retrospective career histories. RESULTS: Thirty-six per cent of the sample was working predominantly in the public sector, while 47% of all years worked by graduates were in the public sector. Women graduates spent 68% of their years working in the public sector, compared with 36% for men. The majority (55%) of graduates in the sample who were working in the public sector cited academic and training aspects as the main reason for this choice. Conversely, nearly half (47%) gave income as the main reason for moving to the private sector. Forty per cent of graduates had specialised (46% of men, 22% of women), while 76% were working in the large urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight methodological problems with standard cross-sectional analysis of distribution of personnel. They also challenge several assumptions about the likelihood of Wits graduates working as generalists (60%), the voluntary contribution of graduates to the public sector, and in particular the value of women doctors to public service and primary care.