Figure 1

Two-dimensional MDS plot based on Φ st distances between aurochs population and 53 taurine cattle breeds; stress value = 0.053. Au-NCE = Northern and central European aurochs; Au-It = Italian aurochs; MOL (Morocco Olmez), LYB (Lybian Local), EGB (Egyptian Baladi) and EGY (Egypt) are all cattle breeds from Africa. The complete list of the cattle breeds used for this figure is reported in Table S4 (see Additional file 4).