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Dogs Are More Like Humans than Primates

On account of our common evolutionary paths

Mar 27, 2009 08:51 GMT  ·  By
Over thousands of years, dogs have learned to understand complex, human-issued commands, which increase cooperation between the two species
   Over thousands of years, dogs have learned to understand complex, human-issued commands, which increase cooperation between the two species

According to a new growing consensus in the scientific community, dogs are more close to humans than primates, even though the latter share many of our genes. The researchers who advocate this point of view say that dogs have become closer to us after 10,000 to 20,000 years of common evolution. Over this period of time, the two races have grown so accustomed to each other, that some canines have even evolved larger brains in order to comprehend more complex commands given to them by their owners. Also, the animals are very faithful, and remain so until the end of their lives.

A scientific paper detailing the new study has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the journal Advances in the Study of Behavior. According to the team behind the investigation, dogs can now be regarded as a model of understanding human social behavior. They say that the most important traits that we share with the creatures include attachment to people, cooperation, understanding verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as the ability to imitate.

The team hypothesizes that the first domesticated dogs were unable to understand their owners, when our ancestors pointed in a direction. Now, the animals are capable of comprehending that the gesture means either “look there,” or “go there.” Theories hold that this type of evolution is the result of the two species sharing the same living conditions for thousands of years.

Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute for Psychology expert Jozsef Topal, who is the lead author of the new study, tells Discovery News that the “shared environment has led to the emergence of functionally shared behavioral features in dogs and humans and, in some cases, functionally analogous underlying cognitive skills. In my view, pet dogs can be regarded in many respects as 'preverbal infants in canine's clothing.'”

In their experiments, Hungarian team members have asked a 16-year-old boy and a pet dog to perform a series of actions, including running in circles, moving objects, or fetching things. Surprisingly enough, the dog has performed similarly in accuracy to the human, a result that further goes to show that the researchers' theories have been actually correct.