{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T11:47:33Z","timestamp":1782128853856,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100018837","name":"School of Natural and Environmental Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100018837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Rocket High Performance Computing service at Newcastle University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Around the world, native breeds are increasingly recognized as important reservoirs of genetic variation that could prove vital for future livestock breeding and enhancing resilience to climate change. Accordingly, native goat (Capra hircus) breeds have been studied to understand their genetic diversity and adaptations to different environments. However, some breeds are confined to small, isolated, and feral populations. In the United Kingdom, these effectively \u201cwild\u201d populations are increasingly threatened with extinction due to ongoing culling practices and inadequate legal protection, which is further compounded by the limited understanding of their genetic status and origins, both of which are critical for informed conservation management. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the genetic structure and ancestry of 20 Cheviot goats residing within Northumberland National Park using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping. This population is hypothesized to comprise of British primitive goats, the original landrace goat breed of the British Isles. We compared our findings against more than 100 global breeds and found that the Cheviot goats exhibited low SNP heterozygosity (HO\u2009=\u20090.23), and very high levels of inbreeding (FROH\u2009=\u20090.45). Phylogenetic analyses positioned the Cheviot goats as a distinct lineage closely related to the Irish breeds, with no evidence of either recent or historical admixture. Our results identify the Cheviot goats as a genetically unique and historical breed. We suggest a re-evaluation of current population management strategies for the Cheviot and other wild goat populations across the United Kingdom with emphasis on the importance of conserving potentially rare and genetically unique populations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jhered\/esag044","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T11:44:18Z","timestamp":1779450258000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Old goats, new insights: Origins and genetic diversity of feral Cheviot goats"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-1423-1702","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenz Dale","family":"Decena","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University , Newcastle Upon Tyne ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard 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Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University , Newcastle Upon Tyne ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1819-3117","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evelyn L","family":"Jensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University , Newcastle Upon Tyne ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026062206570064000_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1655","DOI":"10.1101\/gr.094052.109","article-title":"Fast model-based estimation of ancestry in unrelated individuals","volume":"19","author":"Alexander","year":"2009","journal-title":"Genome 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