September 24, 2022 
Be they ever so humble, there’s no creature quite like the donkey.
Though these hairy, hardy decedents of the Equidae family are often thought of as the horse’s slightly quirky cousins from Albuquerque, they have earned their place as our counterparts in civilization—from their role in Biblical tales to modern DreamWorks classics (hello, Shrek!).
As turns out, though, donkeys may be far more than that. And thanks to new research from the University of Florida, we now know humans wouldn’t have gotten very far without them. Literally.
“Donkeys have been important to humans for thousands of years, being the primary source of work and transport for many cultures. Unlike horses, little was known about the origin and domestication of donkeys,” the study says. “Understanding their genetic makeup is not only key to assessing their contribution to human history but also to improving their local management in the future.”
To that end, a global team of 49 researchers managed to sequence the genome of the donkey from multiple regions around the world, comparing the makeup of more than 200 modern and more than 30 ancient donkeys, along with 15 wild horses.
Using both DNA analysis and fossilized remains, the team discovered that donkeys were likely first domesticated around 5000 BCE in Africa by herding peoples, spurred by the large-scale aridification of the Sahara Desert. This is in direct contrast to horses, which were actually domesticated by humans on two occasions after the first try failed. (We assume early man was attempting to work exclusively with small ponies at the time).
“Domestication is a really neat natural experiment,” said Samantha Brooks, an associate professor of equine physiology at the University of Florida. “How we use animals in our day-to-day lives changes the physiology of these animals. Watching this across thousands of years of genetic history was really fascinating. These changes illustrate how the unique physiology of the domesticated donkey gave them the tools needed to survive and thrive as they worked and lived alongside humans.”
What’s more, by understanding the movement of donkeys throughout history, the study also reflects human movement and activities, including the transport of goods, animal husbandry methods, and how donkeys were selected for unique traits to pass down. A primary example: A group of donkey genomes pulled from the remains of a Roman settlement in Boinville-en-Woëvre, in northeastern France, which showed that donkeys in that region may have been selectively bred to produce certain coat colors, including dun.
This is an exception from the rest of Roman France, however, where mules were the dominant animal species used. According to the study, during this period, the Romans may have imported additional, larger-stature donkeys from Western Africa to breed mules of greater size, which they could then use to fuel transportation networks throughout the Empire.
“Donkeys have fueled human agriculture throughout early history, and they continue to do so across the globe, especially in developing nations,” Brooks explained. “Donkeys are extremely hearty animals, they’re real survivors, and we’re excited to learn more about the adaptations [that] gave them what it takes to survive.”
And, according to Brooks, the evolutionary trajectory of the donkey may also hold the key to thriving in our own, quickly changing world. “A better understanding of how [donkeys] got their ‘toughness’ [teaches] us a lot about animal physiology and gives us new ideas on what it might take to adapt our livestock populations to survive in a warming climate,” she said.
You can access the full study hee-haw!
