CSB#7: The Domestication of Dogs

Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated. At first, dogs were first believe to have come from jackals, but the idea was discarded after the idea that they originally came from grey wolves. However, biologists and archaeologists still debate how gray wolves first evolved into becoming the dog breeds that is known today. Some theories are that dogs were domesticated for food, companionship, or for their amazing ability to hunt. In order to find where domesticated dogs had originally come from, scientists took DNA from 1,500 dogs. They soon found out that most of the DNA were similar to the Near Eastern gray wolf.

I was interested by the fact that different breeds of dogs are found all over the world, but they all came from one species, the Near Eastern gray wolf. The wolves must have been caught by humans and bred for food, companionship, or for their hunting ability. This way, the wolves would be more similar to the way dogs act today.

Citations:
Jarrett, Lobell A., and Eric A. Powell. "More than Man's Best Friend (cover
     story)." Archaeology: n. pag. EBSCO Animals. Web. 7 May 2011.
     <http://puffin.harker.org:2092/ehost/
     detail?vid=3&hid=105&sid=30471ac1-26f6-46ea-95a1-1b0eb73c1ea2%40sessionmgr110&bda
     ta=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=52898691>.


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