5 | CONCLUSION
The present study demonstrated the abundant mtDNA diversity existing in
HGDs, as indicated by the presence of 11 haplotypes. In summary, our
results showed that the mtDNA D-loop region of HGDs had a high genetic
diversity, we confirmed that Chinese donkey originated from the African
wild ass after domestication, as reported in previous research, and we
could clearly exclude the Asian wild ass as an ancestor of the HGD. The
study has provided an empirical basis for the elucidation of the genetic
structure of the maternal ancestor of Huaibei grey donkeys.