There are many things we know today about our best friends, the ARISTODOGS. We have made progress in countless areas, thanks to disciplines such as ethology, a science whose founders, Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen, we have already told you about on other occasions. But even today, there are aspects that remain not fully clarified. Either because findings that provide answers are lacking, or because of a lack of consensus within the international community.
Some time ago, we shared some highly relevant information with you: the most complete family tree of dogs to date, since it includes the genetic sequences of 161 dog breeds. This is a very important milestone that clarifies which the earliest breeds were, from which many of those that exist today were developed.
However, the origin of dogs remains one of those aspects that generate debate and controversy. There is agreement about the direct relationship between dogs and domesticated wolves, but not about the origin of those groups. Nor about when it happened. In fact, the answers provided by paleontology and genetics are quite different.
The most recent study, published in Nature Communications, states that modern dogs may have originated from a single group of wolves domesticated in Europe around 40,000 years ago.
To analyze the genetic origin of dogs, the researchers first sequenced the genomes of the remains of two Neolithic dogs. The first was around 7,000 years old and the other approximately 4,700 years old. Both were discovered at archaeological sites in Germany.
First, the scientists compared the genetic information from these two dogs. They then compared it with the DNA of other 5,000-year-old dogs found in Ireland. Finally, they compared it with that of 5,649 modern dogs and wolves. This led them to the following surprising conclusion: according to the study's authors, the results of this analysis suggest that all ARISTODOGS today descended from a single group of wolves domesticated around 40,000 years ago in Europe. This would be due to the high degree of genetic elements shared by the ancient and modern samples.
However, Laura Botigué, one of the study's co-authors and a postdoctoral researcher at Stony Brook University, told the International Business Times UK that the genomic analysis of ancient samples is a relatively new field. She also says that solving the question of when and where dogs were first domesticated would require older samples from many other geographical regions. But she acknowledges that this is undoubtedly a beginning.
However, these results contradict the findings reported in an article published in 2016 in the journal Science. That study, which had the backing of the evolutionary biology department at the University of Oxford, suggested that dogs were domesticated at two different times and from different wolf populations, in Europe and East Asia. In other words, it raised the possibility that two independent domestication events occurred.
As we said, there is still much to investigate, much to discuss, and much to learn. But every day we are getting closer to finding out. And when that happens, many other questions associated with the origin and domestication of dogs will surely also be clarified. We will keep you informed!
