“…D-loop polymorphisms have been used to understand the origin and genetic diversity of horses from Italy ( Bigi et al , 2014 ), Iran ( Moridi et al , 2013 ), India ( Devi and Ghosh, 2013 ), China ( Zhang et al , 2012 ), Colombia ( Jimenez et al , 2012 ), Croatia ( Ivankovic et al , 2009 ) and Lithuania ( Cothran et al , 2005 ), as well as Lusitano ( Hill et al , 2002 ; Lopes et al , 2005 ) and Arabian horses ( Khanshour and Cothran, 2013 ). These studies have also been used to infer on horse phylogeography and evolution ( Jansen et al , 2002 ; Mirol et al , 2002 ; McGahern et al , 2006 ; Cieslak et al , 2010 ; Achilli et al , 2012 ; Jimenez et al , 2012 ; Devi and Ghosh, 2013 ). According to Mirol et al (2002) , knowledge of South American breeds is important for conservation genetics of domestic horses, as New World varieties are, probably, closer to historical horses than those found currently on the Iberian Peninsula, which have been crossed with other breeds over the last 500 years.…”