What Animal Did Dogs Originate From?

Even though dogs show a lot of human-like qualities̵2;such as their desire for social interaction, companionship and love̵2;they are descended from wild creatures. Studies prove that the domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris, is descended from the gray wolf, Canis lupus. They are so closely related that dogs are considered a subspecies of Canis lupus. However, just how wild wolves of the wood became the family pet is still something of a mystery to researchers.

  1. From Canis lupus to Canis lupus familiaris

    • A husky looks a lot more like a wolf than a Dachshund does, but as members of the same species, huskies, Daschunds and all other domestic dog breeds share the same DNA. The physical expression of that DNA, however, has been manipulated by humans for thousands of years. The first dogs were domesticated from a small collection of female wolves̵2;one research team estimates about 50 wolves in the Yangtze River region of China mothered all future dogs. After thousands of years of selective breeding the dog has differentiated slightly from the wolf genetically. For example, dogs have adapted the ability to digest carbohydrates better than wolves, which are primarily carnivores.

    Where the First Dogs Were Born

    • Researchers continue to debate just how and when the first dogs were born. After studying the genetic diversity of dogs in eastern Asian villages, researchers determined that this was where dogs were first domesticated. Peter Savolainen, of the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, led the study that concluded dogs most likely originated in China about 15,000 years ago. However, Adam Boyko of Cornell's Village Dog Genetic Diversity Project, Oxford University, is looking further into the dog's first appearance. In his study, sampled genetic material from dogs in villages of Europe, Africa and North America showed their domesticated populations could go back just as many years as those in Asia, indicating that wolves may have been domesticated into dogs in various world regions simultaneously.

    How Wolves Became Dogs

    • Archaeological records provide evidence that dogs have been human companions for millennia. Researchers estimate that dogs were first domesticated between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago. One step wolves took toward becoming dogs was adapting to human lifestyles. Studies conducted by researchers at Harvard University and the Wolf Hollow Wolf Sanctuary found that dogs are much more capable of interpreting human social cues than wolves or chimpanzees. Puppies were just as capable of figuring out what humans were telling them as adult chimps, which implies the trait was inborn in the puppies and not learned behavior. This research suggests that, because dogs have been selectively bred by humans for thousands of years, people have chosen to breed dogs that understand them, and it's been beneficial for Canis lupus familiaris as a species to figure out what humans communicate to them.

    Shared Characteristics

    • There is such a thing as a wolf-dog crossbreed. It's true̵2;wolves and dogs can mate and produce viable offspring. That's because wolves and dogs have nearly identical genetic information. Wolf-dog hybrids are proof of how similar dogs and wolves still are genetically. Wolf-dog hybrids can be kept as pets much like domesticated dogs. They can be trained successfully and can live with families in almost every way that dogs can, except they may not get along with small children or small pets. Wolf-dogs exhibit a combination of traits from each parent̵2;they're energetic and willful like wolves, but affectionate and loyal like dogs.