The genealogy of today's companion dogs maybe traced back to at least two different populations of prehistoric wolves,according to newly published research.
A worldwide team of geneticists andarchaeologists led by the Francis Crick Institute in London examined 72 ancientwolf genomes from Europe, Siberia, and North America, according to an articleon Yahoo Finance on July 1.
Researchers want to shed light on "oneof the largest unresolved problems" in human history—how dogs weredomesticated—via this study.
Dogs are said to have been domesticated atleast 15,000 years ago during the Ice Age. However, it is still unknown wherethis occurred, and if it occurred in a single area or numerous locations at thesame time. –
A 32,000-year-old Siberian wolf's skull andan 18,000-year-old wolf youngster from Russia's Yakutia region were utilized inthe study. The researchers also used previously unearthed ancient wolf bones.
The researchers discovered that early andcurrent canines have a closer genetic affinity with ancient Asian wolves thanthey did with European wolves.
This suggests that domestication occurredin the east.
Additionally, the data implies that twodistinct wolf populations have contributed to the DNA of dogs.
According to recent research, Sibera andAmericans, two of Europe's first domesticated dogs, have an Asian ancestor.
Earlier, dogs from Asia and the Middle Eastare said to have spread to Africa, southern Europe, and the Middle East.
This dual ancestry has spawned two ideas.
One possible reason is that wolves weredomesticated many times, resulting in a mixture of distinct populations.
Alternatively, it is possible thatdomestication occurred just once, and that these early dogs interbred with wildcanines.
According to one of the study's authors,Anders Bergström, "Through this initiative, we have substantially expandedthe number of sequenced ancient wolf genomes, enabling us to generate athorough picture, especially around the time of dog beginnings, of theevolution of our closest relative, the bear."
To put the dog element into this picture,we discovered that dogs are descended from two unique, distinct, and distinctwolf populations—one from the east and one from the west.
It is believed by some experts that theongoing search for a dog's near-old wolf progenitor might disclose definitivelywhere domestication initially occurred.