Native Americans did not have horses prior to European introduction
the verdict
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the evidence backs this
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
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Peer-reviewed literature and reference materials report that horses were introduced to the Americas by Europeans, as prehistoric equids had gone extinct in the Western Hemisphere prior to the post-Columbian era.
Unlike other European domesticates introduced in the Americas after the European invasion, equids (Equidae) were previously in the Western Hemisphere but were extinct by the late Holocene era. The return of equids to the Americas through the introduction of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) is documented in the historical literature but is not explored fully either archaeologically or genetically. Historical documents suggest that the first domestic horses were brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caribbean in the late 15th century CE, but archaeological remains of these early introductions are rare. This paper presents the mitochondrial genome of a late 16th century horse from the Spanish colonial site of Puerto Real (northern Haiti). It represents the earliest complete mitogenome of a post-Columbian domestic horse in the Western Hemisphere offering a unique opportunity to clarify the phylogeographic history of this species in the Americas. Our data supports the hypothesis of an Iberian origin for this early translocated individual and clarifies its phylogenetic relationship with modern breeds in the Americas.
Chili and paprika from South America were introduced in India by the Portuguese; today, these are an important part of modern Indian cuisine. Before the Columbian Exchange, there were no oranges in Florida, no bananas in Ecuador, no paprika in Hungary, no zucchini in Italy, no pineapples in Hawaii, no chili peppers in Thailand and India, and no chocolate in Switzerland. Even the dandelion was brought to the Americas by Europeans for use as an herb. Animals
The first European import to the Americas, the horse, changed the lives of many Native American tribes on the Great Plains, letting them change to a nomadic lifestyle based on hunting bison on horseback. The Columbian Exchange also brought cattle to the New World. Before there was regular communication between the two hemispheres, the different types of domesticated animals and diseases were more numerous in the Old World than in the New. This partly led to the horrible effects of Old World diseases on Native American tribes. Smallpox probably caused in the highest death toll for Native Americans. Other goods
Before the Columbian Exchange, there were no rubber trees in Africa and no cigarettes in France.
The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. However, while the overall picture of equid evolution is well known, the details are surprisingly poorly understood, especially for the later Pliocene and Pleistocene, c. 3 million to 0.01 million years (Ma) ago, and nowhere more so than in the Americas. There is no consensus on the number of equid species or even the number of lineages that existed in these continents. Likewise, the origin of the endemic South American genus Hippidion is unresolved, as is the phylogenetic position of the “stilt-legged”
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