Do you know where Do Dogs Come From? Numerous and contradictory studies have bombarded us with many data about the origin of our beloved pets, and even today they do not agree. In what there is definitive consensus is to say that they are the oldest domesticated animals in the world.
As we have already mentioned in other articles, the dog has been with us for several thousand years, lurking first in the settlements in search of food remains, accompanying us and helping us later in the hunt and then in the herding.
But before they were not the animal we know today, they were wolves. What is address is where the dogs come from and where they were it was training.
And in this, they do not agree either. Some give dates as dissimilar as 138,000 years, 40,000, 32,000, 18,000 and 15,000. What is certain is that the wolf is “the first species and the only great carnivore that we have tamed” as stated by Robert Wayne from UCLA (California).
Where Do Dogs Come From?
There are at least three theories on the table that attempt to elucidate where dogs come from, that is, the possible place where the gradual transformation of wild wolves to tame wolves occurred, and from these to the first dogs.
- Until now, the first theory was that the agricultural communities of the Middle East had achieved the domestication of canids.
- However, recent genetic studies indicate otherwise. In a report published in the Heredity magazine. It means the state that it may have happen in China. In the Yangtze River region.
- This was captured by Peter Savolainen, the principal investigator, who used DNA from the Y chromosome of male dogs from around the world. In his comparisons, He found very interesting data about half of the gene data was found everywhere. But only in the Yangtze region was the full range of genetic diversity observation for the researcher. This would indicate the probable origin of domestication.
The Theories:
- Another study gives different results. It appeared in the journal Science, and here we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA of 18 prehistoric canids of Eurasia and America, of an antiquity of up to 32,000 years, found in various places: Belgium, Switzerland, Russia, Germany, the United States, Alaska, and Argentina.
- They were compared to dogs of different breeds, wolves and modern coyotes. And the analysis revealed that there was a more parental closeness between modern dogs and prehistoric canids than that between dogs and Asian wolves, suggesting that domestication was in Europe and not in Asia.
- This molecular dating suggests that there was an expansion of dogs from their origin in Europe to other regions. Such as the Middle East, and even America, accompanying their new pack leaders. In the analysis of the remains of the dogs found in America. A common origin was found with European dogs. And this corroborates the canine expansion along with humans.
- In this sense, the first change suffered by the primal wolf was to renounce its territoriality. Which meant not reproducing with resident territorial wolves. Thus, they were reproducing among themselves and inheriting the skills acquired by humans.
- Other more recent studies suggest that the origin of modern dogs is in Central Asia, probably in Nepal or Mongolia, and were join into groups of hunters, eating the remains that humans.
- In this last study, the DNA of 4,676 dogs of a breed and 449 stray dogs was analyzed (very little studied so far), and this curious data was collected. And we have already seen different.
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While there are no agreements at this point. What all theories definitely agree on is that domestication did not occur simultaneously in isolation in several parts of the world. But rather comes from a single group of “domesticated ancestors” in a single event of domestication.
Final Words:
From there they went watering to the side of humans. Generating thousands of races in thousands of years of selective breeding by us. There are approximately 1 billion dogs in the world, but the wolves do not reach 10 million.
A mystery the origin of dogs, like ours. Without a doubt, knowing more about them will let us know more about us.
If you liked the article about where the dogs come from, do not miss any of our Articles, Because those are made for Dog Lovers & Dog Owners.
