Without rice, there would be no chickens, scientists say. It was when humans began clearing forests and cultivating rice within the Red Jungle Range of Southeast Asia that some of the chicken's wild ancestors descended from the trees to feast on the grains.. Gradually they turned into domestic chickens..

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The study report was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports Science..

Jungle feathered domestication occurred much later than other studies suggest, study finds. In accordance with a comprehensive analysis and dating of the bones found, it turned out that some fossil bones that were previously considered chicken bones belonged to other animals..

The authors of the study prove that the earliest domestic chickens appeared historically recently - only from 3250 to 3650 years ago. And they clearly indicated the place of their domestication: this is a rice-growing region in what is now central Thailand..

Then chickens quickly spread throughout Asia along with the spread of rice and millet crops.. In particular, poultry farming appeared on the territory of present-day Israel about 2300 years ago..