Biologically speaking Huskies and Malamutes are the closer dogs to wolves. They are still very primitive and look and act like wolves. Husky packs even howl together as if they are singing. Here is a cute video of Huskies howling.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbuOz7o95KA[/embedyt]
I adore these wolf like dogs.
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.
Good morning everyone! Here is a post that is different from the norm.
New research sheds light on how some wolves evolved into dogs. They began to like carb based foods of which humans was a source. This makes total sense that as farming techniques improved the ancestors of dogs got used to eating wheat leftover from humans. This is where they began to split from their wolf cousins and became the loveable huggable creatures we know today.
In the new study, Axelsson and his colleagues examined DNA from 12 wolves and 60 dogs. The wolf samples were from animals from the United States, Sweden, Russia, Canada and several other northern countries. The dogs were from 14 breeds. The researchers compared the DNA sequences of the wolves and the dogs (which are subspecies of the same species, Canis lupus) and identified 36 genomic regions in which there are differences that suggest they have undergone recent natural selection in dogs
In particular, dogs show changes in genes governing three key steps in the digestion of starch. The first is the breakdown of large carbohydrate molecules into smaller pieces; the second is the chopping of those pieces into sugar molecules; the third is the absorption of those molecules in the intestine.
“It is such a strong signal that it makes us convinced that being able to digest starch efficiently was crucial to dogs. It must have been something that determined whether you were a successful dog or not,” Axelsson said.
Despite adapting to liking carbs give a dog meat and the wolf in them comes out!
The Diary of Daedalus
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