The origin of the domestic dog has been a controversial topic for centuries, full of unknowns and false myths. And although there are currently still doubts to be resolved, science offers us some very valuable answers that help us better understand why the dog is the quintessential companion animal or why, unlike the wolf or the cat, it is the most domesticated species.
Have you ever wondered what the origin of the domestic dog is? Discover on our site everything about Canis lupus familiaris, starting with the first carnivores and ending with the large number of dog breeds that exist today. If you are interested in learning more about the origins of the dog don't miss this opportunity to travel back in time and understand where and how it all began.
The first carnivores
The first bone record of a carnivore dates back to 50 million years ago, in the Eocene. This first animal was arboreal and fed by stalking and hunting other animals smaller than itself. It was similar to a marten, but with a short snout. Soon these carnivores divided into two groups:
- The caniforms: canids, seals, walruses, skunks, bears…
- Feliforms: cats, mongooses, genets…
Separation in feliforms and caniforms
These two groups differ mainly in the internal structure of the ear and the dentition. The separation of these two groups was propitiated by the diversification of the habitats. With the cooling of the planet, the forest mass was being lost, while the grasslands gained space. This is where the feliforms remain in the trees and the caniforms begin to specialize in chasing prey through the meadow, since the caniforms, with few exceptions lack retractable claws
What animal is the dog initially descended from?
To know the origin of the dog we must go back to the first canids that appeared in North America, since the first known canid is Prohesperocyon, which inhabited present-day Texas 40 million years ago. It was the size of a raccoon, but slimmer, plus, with longer legs than its tree-dwelling ancestors.
The largest canid recognized was Epicyon. With a very robust head, more like a lion or hyena than a wolf. It is unknown if it would be a scavenger or if it would hunt in groups like the modern wolf. They were still confined to present-day North America and date back between 20 and 5 million years. This one reached a meter and a half and 150 kg in weight
The origin of the wolf, the dog and other canids
25 million years ago, in North America, the group was divided, which caused the appearance of the oldest relatives of wolves, raccoons and jackals. And with the continued cooling of the planet, 8 million years ago, the Bering Strait Bridgeappeared, which allowed these groups toreaching Eurasia where they would reach their greatest degree of diversification. The first Canis lupus made its appearance in Eurasia, barely half a million years ago, and 250 thousand years ago it returned to North America through the Bering Strait.
Does the dog come from the wolf?
In 1871 Charles Darwin initiated the multiple ancestry theory, which proposed that dogs descended from coyotes, wolves and jackals. However, in 1954, Konrad Lorenz discarded the coyote as the origin of the dog and proposed that the Nordic breeds were descended from the wolf and that the rest were descended from the jackal.
So, is the dog descended from the wolf? Currently, thanks to DNA sequencing, it has been possible to verify that the dog, the wolf, the coyote and the jackal share DNA sequences and that the most similar each other are those of the dog and the wolf. A study published in 2014 [1] ensures that the dog and the wolf belong to the same species, but that they are different subspecies. It is estimated that dogs and wolves could have had a common ancestor, but there are no conclusive studies
First encounters with humans
Putting ourselves in a situation, when 200 thousand years ago the first humans left Africa and arrived in Europe, the canids were already there. They lived together as competitors for a long period until they began their association approximately 30 thousand years ago.
Genetic studies date the first dogs to 15,000 years ago, in the Asian area that corresponds to present-day China. Coinciding with the beginning of agriculture. Recent research from the year 2013 of the Swedish University of Upsala [2] affirms that the domestication of the dog was linked to some genetic differences between the wolf and the dog linked to the development of the nervous system and the metabolism of starch.
When the first farmers, who produced high-energy foods rich in starch, were established, groups of opportunistic canids approached human settlements, They were scavenging starchy plant debris. These early dogs were also less aggressive than wolves, which made domestication easier.
The starch-rich diet was decisive for the species to prosper, since the genetic variations that these dogs had suffered made their survival on the exclusively carnivorous diet of their ancestors.
The packs of dogs obtained food from the village so they defended the territory from other animals, a fact that benefited humans, we could then talk about how symbiosisallowed a rapprochement of both species, which would culminate in the domestication of the dog.
The Origin of the Domestic Dog
Coppinger's Theory states that 15,000 years ago canids approached settlements in search of easy food. It could happen then that the most docile and trusting dogs were more likely to access food than those who were distrustful of humans, therefore, the dogs more sociable and docile dogs had greater access to resources, which led to greater survival, which would therefore imply new generations of docile dogs. This theory rules out that it was the man who approached the dog for the first time with the intention of taming it.
The Origin of Dog Breeds
Currently we know of more than 300 dog breeds, some of them standardized. This is because at the end of the 19th century, Victorian England began to develop eugenics, a science that studies genetics and aims toimprovement of a species The RAE definition [3] is as follows:
From fr. eugénésie, and this one from gr. εὖ eû 'well' and -génésie '-genesis'.
1. F. Med. Study and application of the biological laws of heredity aimed at perfecting the human species.
Each breed has certain morphological characteristics that make it unique and they are breeders, who, throughout history, have combined traits of behavior and temperament to develop new races that could provide the human being with one or another utility. A genetic study of more than 161 breeds points to the basenji as the oldest dog in the world, from which all the dog breeds we know today were developed.
Eugenics, fashions and changes in the standards of different breeds have caused beauty to be a determining factor in current dog breeds, leaving aside the consequences of well-being, he alth, character or morphology that may cause. Discover on our site how dog breeds have changed: before and now photos.
Other failed attempts
Remains of canids other than wolves have been found in Central Europe, belonging to failed attempts to domesticate wolves during the last glacial period, between 30 and 20 thousand years. But it was not until the beginning of agriculture when the domestication of the first group of dogs was a palpable fact. We hope that this article has provided interesting data about the most ancient origins of canids and the first carnivores.
