Abstract Phenotypic changes in mammals, often observed following domestication, affect both pelage and skeletal structures. Our study focuses on morphological changes in a key skeletal element of the ungulate locomotor system—the metacarpal—following altered habitat and living status due to human management. We used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to examine morphological variations in metacarpals within a primitive domestic sheep breed—Soay sheep (Ovis aries)—of which some populations experienced a translocation from a feral state on the mountainous island of St Kilda to living under closely managed conditions on flat paddocks in England. We first quantified the effects of sex and ontogeny on metacarpal morphology in the feral St Kilda population, establishing a baseline against which the variation in the managed English population was then evaluated. Our results reveal a phenotypic response in the translocated sheep, for which a plastic response in locomotor behaviour to the changed physical environment provides the most plausible explanation. Nevertheless, further tests integrating genetic analysis are still needed to clarify the genomic underpinnings of the observed variation. Our findings highlight the potential of bone morphology to trace the domestication process and reconstruct past human–animal–environment interactions in zooarchaeological contexts.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.