How Fast Was Wild Wheat Domesticated? — Tanno and Willcox 311 (5769): 1886 — Science

Prehistoric cultivation of wild wheat in the Fertile Crescent led to the selection of mutants with indehiscent (nonshattering) ears, which evolved into modern domestic wheat. Previous estimates suggested that this transformation was rapid, but our analyses of archaeological plant remains demonstrate that indehiscent domesticates were slow to appear, emerging ~9500 years before the present, and that dehiscent (shattering) forms were still common in cultivated fields ~7500 years before the present. Slow domestication implies that after cultivation began, wild cereals may have remained unchanged for a long period, supporting claims that agriculture originated in the Near East ~10,500 years before the present.

栽培種の割合は、１万２００年前０％、９２５０年前１１％、７５００年前３６％、６５００年前６５％と、ゆっくり増えていた。
総合地球環境学研究所の丹野研一研究員ら。