Origin story for human-horse relationship gets a rewrite

+ why dogs and cats fetch; designing cooler homes using ancient techniques US Edition - Today's top story: Domesticating horses had a huge impact on human society − new science rewrites where and when it first happened [View in browser]( US Edition | 4 September 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Horses and humans have a long shared history. But where and when people first domesticated these powerful animals to use for travel, communication, agriculture and warfare has been murky. Archaeozoologist William Taylor is based at the University of Colorado Boulder but spends a lot of time in Mongolia, where he and his team recover bones and artifacts that are melting out of receding mountain ice. He writes about how new research tools are helping scientists use finds like his to refine the origin story of the human-horse relationship. Sequencing genes, examining wear patterns on jaws and skeletons, considering evidence of ancient corrals and deposits of milk on ceramics – many lines of inquiry “seem to converge on the idea that horse domestication probably did take place in the Black Sea steppes, [but much later” than previously hypothesized](. Also in this week’s science news: - [COVID-19, flu and RSV – what to know about shots this fall]( - [Tim Walz’s son, Gus, brought neurodivergence to big stage]( - [One-of-a-kind oceangoing laboratory may have had last journey]( If there’s a subject you’d like our team of science editors to investigate, please reply to this email. Maggie Villiger Senior Science + Technology Editor Horses supported travel, communication, agriculture and warfare across much of the ancient world. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images [Domesticating horses had a huge impact on human society − new science rewrites where and when it first happened]( William Taylor, University of Colorado Boulder New analyses of bones, teeth, genetics and artifacts suggest it’s time to revise a long-standing hypothesis for how humans domesticated horses. Throw it for me! Purple Collar Pet Photography/Moment, via Getty Images [Cats and dogs both like to play fetch − it’s rooted in their hunting instincts]( Mikel Delgado, Purdue University; Judith Stella, Purdue University About 80% of dogs and 40% of cats will fetch, a new study finds. Domesticating turned these carnivores’ hunting methods into a game. 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