Pottok the Losino, the Galician, the Landais, and the Monchino horses. Tests have revealed considerable genetic differences between populations in the Northern Basque Country and the Southern Basque Country, leading some to consider them separate breeds. Some claim the Pottok's origins derive from the horses on ancient cave paintings in the area and thus claim to descend from the Magdalenian horses of 14,000–7000 BC. Other link its origins to an influx of horses during the Bronze Age. However, neither of these theories has to date been scientifically verified. Genetic research by the University of the Basque Country's Genetics, Physical Anthropology and
Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture also currently shrinking, with rapid and uncontrolled loss of breeds and conjointly their often uncharacterized genes. Nearly 100 livestock breeds have gone extinct between 2000 and 2014. With the loss of these breeds comes the loss of their unique adaptive traits, which are often under the control of many different genes and complex interactions between the genotype and the environment. In order to protect these unique traits, and the diversity they allow, collaborative global efforts towards the characterization and management of these genetic resources must be made. Unlike plants, which can be easily conserved in seed banks, a large portion