Origin of the dog: when and where was the wolf domesticated?
Dogs were domesticated long before cats. Theories about domestication of wolves They are based on archaeological remains of some of them that already have domestication features. This happened with the coexistence of the wolf with the man long enough for the genetic transformation that led to the dog to occur. But when did it happen, and where?
They are the million dollar questions. If that moment is around 5,000 years in the case of felines, with respect to dogs we find very different theories, although many of them need to find new evidence in order to prevail over the rest. Next, in a PROFESSOR we are going to discover you when and where the wolf was domesticated.
An American study published in late 2013 in the magazine Science holds that wolves were domesticated by European hunter-gatherers more than 18,000 years ago. Over time, today's dogs became pets, say scientists from the Department of Ecoology and Evolution at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
To reach this conclusion
analyzed the genomes of six current wolf families and they found that none had a genome similar to that of current domestic dogs. Nor did they find any similarities with the remains of very ancient wolves. Thus, they concluded that dogs come from an extinct common ancestor, even older than those.
Previous research differs in important ways. One of the theories, disseminated in 2011, places the moment of domestication, at least 33,000 years ago. Supported by Susan Crockford, Researcher at Pacific Indentications Inc., the theory is based on the analysis of a partially domesticated wolf skeleton of the same age, found in southern Siberia.
Other theories bet on a Asian origin of dogs, since it is in that region where there is a greater genetic diversity. One of them, carried out by the Royal Stockholm Institute of Technology, argues that the favorable conditions existed between 11,000 and 14,000 years ago in China.
They claim that all the dogs on the planet belong to a single lineage and that human interest in the wolf was originally due to a simple nutritional interest. Basically, they domesticated themselves so they could eat it. Today, in addition, the Chinese continue to do so.
If you want to read more articles similar to Origin of the dog: when and where was the wolf domesticated?, we recommend that you enter our category of biology.
