Ancient Dog Evolution Shows Domestication Began Far Earlier

Introduction

When you own a spoiled pet that likes to spend time on the couch and prefers treats with cheese as the flavour, it is difficult to consider that their animal predecessors were once ruthless wild creatures. However, one of the largest scientific studies is an indication that the physical change of the wolf into the domesticated dog started much earlier than previously supposed earlier- on in the Middle Stone Age.

A Transformation That Started 10,000 Years Earlier

According to Dr Allowen Evin, the University of Montpellier, even small breeds such as Chihuahuas are basically wolves that have gone through thousands of years of human manipulation to become what we know them to be. Most people assumed that modern-day dog breeds had been formed during the Victorian era; however, the new study reveals that this has happened over a period of more than 10,000 years.

How Researchers Studied Ancient Dog Evolution

Published in Science, the study involved an international team that focused on prehistoric canine skulls.

Key Research Methods

• Over 600 skulls were gathered and studied.
• The skulls range over 50,000 years of evolution of dogs.
• There were sophisticated 3D computerised scans, which were designed to make precise comparisons.
• The ancient dogs and modern ones were compared to the wild wolves.

These scans helped researchers to discover tremendous changes that occurred almost 11,000 years ago, right after the last Ice Age.

What the Skull Changes Revealed

When some of the early dogs were still thin and wolf-like, most of them acquired shorter snouts, a broader jaw, and a more compact skull. According to Dr Carly Ameen of the University of Exeter, nearly fifty per cent of the variety of modern breeds of dogs were already present in the Middle Stone Age. This observation refutes the hypothesis that canine variation was mainly caused by Darwinian breeders.

Key Findings

• The diversity of skulls in the early dogs was very high, even before breeding emerged in the modern world.
• Changes in the physical point to early domestication forces.
• The change of variability accelerated following the final ice age.
• Dogs were modified by human beings in terms of interaction, environment, and diet.

The Mystery of Early Domestication

The first animals that were domesticated by people were dogs, and close relationships can be traced back at least 30,000 years. Nevertheless, there is a mystery about the origin of this relationship.

Possible Reasons Wolves Became Dogs

It is believed that domestication could have taken place naturally by many researchers:

• Wolves were scavengers around the primitive human settlements.
• The tame wolves were fed more and lived longer
• Wolves would warn humans about predators, which was helpful to humans.
• Wolves were also used to clean garbage and the remains of carcasses.

Dr Ameen postulates that the combination of human tastes, the changes in environment and food resulted in the changing look of dogs.

Dogs and Humans Migrated Together

A second scientific study that examined ancient dog DNA in Siberia, Central Eurasia and northwest China discovered that dogs were frequent migratory companions of humans. Such movements were in line with the migration trend of hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists.

Highlights From the DNA Study

• Dogs had accompanied humans even over great distances.
• The ancient civilisations made dogs a part of their life and living.
• This goes to reinforce the notion that dogs have been friends of humans for thousands of years.

Conclusion

Even though the pets we have today might not provide us with a survival advantage like their wolf fathers did, it is evident that man and his dog have had a very intertwined history. When wolves came to take the leftovers of human beings, it was indeed too late.