Lachie Scarsbrook

Yesterday in @Nature, we presented the earliest evidence of dogs anywhere in the world — three puppies that were buried by Stone Age hunter-gatherers in Türkiye almost 16,000 years ago. nature.com/articles/s4158…

Next Thursday (April 16th) the @AaRC_Community is hosting an online workshop on #imputation and #relatedness with @ErvenJolijn! Keen to sign up? Here's the link! docs.google.com/forms/d/1kUg0h…

NEW: Oxford researchers have contributed to a new study which has uncovered the earliest genetic evidence for the existence of dogs - approximately 16,000–14,000 years ago. Find out more ⬇️ bit.ly/3PxgjqI

Our study was a major collaborative effort, bringing together researchers from 17 institutions. It was a pleasure to work alongside everyone, and especially co-lead author William Marsh (who also qualifies as an "Old Friend"), pictured here with me in Gough's Cave.

We also found diverse hunter-gatherer populations across Europe and Anatolia, each with their own weird and wonderful cultural practices, were united by close relationships with dogs. This deep and lasting bond truly cements their status as “man’s best friend.”

Yesterday in @Nature, we presented the earliest evidence of dogs anywhere in the world — three puppies that were buried by Stone Age hunter-gatherers in Türkiye almost 16,000 years ago. nature.com/articles/s4158…

European colonisation didn’t just redraw maps, it rewrote ecosystems! Read our article in The Conversation to learn how hybridisation between indigenous and introduced dogs has reshaped an Australian icon 🇦🇺 🐕 theconversation.com/how-european-c…

🚨 PNAS Special Feature 2 🐕 We used ancient DNA and dietary isotopes to show that landscape modification and the introduction of European dogs impacted dingo populations across Australia. 🔗 Full paper here: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

🚨 PNAS Special Feature 🐕 We analysed genomes of historical German Shepherds to reveal how bottlenecks linked to WWII and the use of popular sires led to significant declines in genomic health. We also found an early 20th century wolf-dog hybrid! 🔗: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

Our work also made it into Time magazine: time.com/7333956/dna-hi…

Our study, published today in @ScienceMagazine, reveals remarkable concordance between human and dog genomes through time, highlighting how deeply intertwined our evolutionary histories have been over the past 11,000 years. 🔗 Read the full paper here: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

🚨 Calling all ancient DNA researchers 🚨 Abstract submissions for the inaugural AaRC conference are open until March 7th! Get your talks in! 🦴🧬

After successfully defending my DPhil thesis on ancient dog genomics, I’m now officially a Doctor! Thanks to everyone who’s been a part of this almost 10-year academic journey, which started in @otago and finished in @UniofOxford!

Stoked to have been awarded “Best Presentation” at the 12th International Conference of Canine and Feline #Genetics and #Genomics in #Helsinki! Huge thanks goes to the scientific organising committee for coordinating such an outstanding conference #ICCFGG

@shanemeekin Great work Shane 👏🏻

I'm incredibly glad to announce the new fossil dolphin 'Aureia rerehua' in my first published paper! Many thanks for everyone's help, without which this couldn't have been completed! tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

We also challenge the idea that maintaining discrete, non-overlapping lineages through reproductive isolation is a requirement in the domestication process, as domestic animal genomes reflecting a palimpsest of domestic and wild ancestry.

We highlight that traits ubiquitous in modern populations cannot be used to infer selection in the early stages of domestication, as they are the result of temporally dynamic evolutionary processes.

Check out the first chapter of my PhD, which was published as part of the upcoming Encyclopaedia of Quaternary Science, and provides a review of aDNA and animal domestication @Greger_Larson @LrFrantz @UniofOxford @school_of_arch 🧵 shorturl.at/vARVZ

As my first academic mentor, Ewan Fordyce always encouraged me to follow passion rather practicality. His sage advice still guides my choices to this day. You will be deeply missed.