DNA Domestication of Dogs

An interesting article I came upon by accident.
Thought it would be of interest to the Ancient Mysteries forum, especially concerning our Roots and age of our Race.

Part of this article:



Apparently we can guess that Wolves started interacting and eventually a culling of the pack gave rise to mans best friend.
Tho the article is dated 2002, its raises questions of where we originated from, for example oldest human remains in Africa, did man explore the vast wilds to the North and co-habitat with wolves far earlier than thought? Perhaps Clovis man started the trend?

Do we need to always second guess mitochondrial DNA evidence and adjust it as Dr. Peter Savolainen has?
Hmmm...

Perhaps extraterrestrials altered wolf dna so humans would have a best friend.

There's another slightly different theory that suggests wolves started eating our trash, and that over a few generations, the wolves that feared men least could get a hold of better and more trash and therefore survive better, till they were domesticated.

But as to second guessing mDNA? Well, if it has no other substantiation, then of course it's worth second-guessing. There's no single thing that gives an answer so good as to trump everything else we know about a subject.

--Jaylemurph

That theory seems very likely, however, might I suggest an amendment?

I submit the possibility that as a pack or packs followed us around hoping for our scraps and maybe even picking off the occasional sick human outcast left behind, at some point hunters are going to come across a wolf den with cubs in it. And what are puppies extremely good for? That's right...Wooing women. So I submit that puppies were probably taken as pets to get girls, and the ones that showed the greatest ability to learn and accept man as the pack leader were kept, the rest probably killed or just turned out.

I'm sort of kidding about the "wooing women" part. But only sort of.

Another slight amendment:) man followed pack's of wolves driving them of the kill and claiming a share of the meat, it wouldn't have taken long to realise having their own wolves would be more productive and so the hunting dog was born.

Is there equally greater genetic divesity in the wolf population of Asia? If not, then dogs could have developed anywhere. There is supposedly a different breed of dog for every Shire in England. That sounds like a lot of diversity, so a guess that England is the home of the dog is possibly just as good a guess.

I have for a while imagined the crucial moment as a joint venture, hunting together, by agreement, perhaps long before we dipped into the wolf gene pool.

Wild wolves are known to make interspecific pacts. I have seen film, for instance, of wild wolves living in partnership with ravens. Obviously, the ravens act as spotters for the hunting wolves. Each group takes its share of the kill.

I saw film of that, too. The birds, like the wolves, have their social hierarchy, and so an eating order. The wolf alphas ate at the same time as the top ravens. I even saw a raven swat one of the alphas on the snout to make room - and the alpha made no objection.

Do not try that at home.

Like ravens, we have something wolves lack, good daytime sight, plus whatever weapons we were up to whenever the pact was made (which could have been anytime before we actually domesticated any wolves). Wolves obviously would bring a lot to the deal, too.

So we hunted together, to the benefit of both pack and tribe.

Another detail of the raven precedent may be relevant. Off-duty, the ravens were allowed to play with the pack's puppies. Maybe we were, too. Then, for whatever reason (chicks dig puppies is plenty good enough), we ended up with a few puppies. And the rest is history. Maybe.

A fascinating study. I am also of the opinion that perhaps we witnessed the hunting prowess of the wolves and saw them as a great asset.

i like the pact theory.

the human social pattern is identical to that of wolves and ravens.

the old plan was ravens spotted the game
then wolves gave chase driving the game to us

we use our size and weapons to take down the prey.


while dividing man got the first slice for 2 reasons: striking the killing blow and cutting up the carcass.

this removed small bones and hair from the wolves diet making the meal more effecient [no choking or vomitting caused by the bones and hair].


over time i suspect man abused his role and hoarded the kill and thus only a few of the pack remained to mooch for scraps and those are now our dogs.

I would suspect they came from asiatic wolves. which were smaller than other wolves and probably more scavenger than hunter.
But then again, they could of been domesticated at several different locations at once.


Lapiche

edit: there is no mention of testing done on Algonquian "Yellow curs". Which Coastal Algonquians and African Americans who live in the rural East Coast of the U.S. still use as "deer dogs". According to the Smithsonian Institute they come directly from Southeast Asian wolf ancestory.

A Chihuahua is descended from a Wolf? There must've been one sick Wolf when the Chihuahua came along.

Hey man, I know plenty of white folks who have yellow deer dogs. My grandfather had them for years (but to be fair, his first one was given to him by a his black friend).

I know it takes us a while, but we can pick up on a good idea.

--Jaylemurph

Artificial selection. In that way you get a chihuahua pr a sh**zu from the wolves. And that is how you ended whit soo many dogs variations from the smallest to the almost pony-size.