Many people have pondered how Dogs adapted from Wolves. Some breed of dogs like Akitas, Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Chows and German Shepards, clearly resemble Wolves in appearance and behaviors. Others like Chihuahuas, Poodles, dachshunds and Terriers do not resembles their ancestors due to adaptation and human breeding. It turns out these awesome beings are mostly descended from an extinct line of wolves.
The latest genetic study to trace the origins of dogs confirms the view that they were domesticated by hunter-gatherers at least 9,000 years ago — but the results raise almost as many questions as they answer.
Exactly what kind of wolf gave rise to “man’s best friend”? Did domestication take advantage of a rare genetic quirk, or did early humans merely take advantages of wolfish traits?
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The wolves were selected to represent the three regions of the world that have been identified as the potential points of origin for domesticated dogs: Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “These are the highest-quality wolf genome sequences published to date, and among the very first,” Novembre said. “Without high-quality wolf genomes, it’s difficult to learn about the origins of dogs.”
He and his colleagues expected to find that the dog breeds had closer genetic connections to one of the wolves over the others. That would have provided a new clue in the detective story, but that’s not what happened. Instead, the results suggested that the Basenji and the dingo both descended from an older, wolflike ancestor.
Novembre said. “The ancient mitochondrial DNA paper suggests that the ancient lineage of wolves may have existed in Europe.”
This extinct line of Wolves mutated by staying near human settlements for food. Eventually they made a niche for themselves in human society. Thus becoming those cuddly good spirited animal we love as our companions.
