14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago argue in a new study that dogs and wolves shared a common ancestor, a creature that lived between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago. The team says that this ancient ancestor existed before humans developed agriculture.
These conclusions are based on a relatively large study of genome samples harvested from modern-day dogs and wolves. These samples were collected from regions where domestication is thought to have occurred first. Details of the work appear in the January 16 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics.
The group was also able to determine that dog breeds are more closely related to each other from a genetic point of view than to wolves. This correlation was maintained regardless of the geographical location being analyzed, PhysOrg reports.
What this suggests is that the process of dog domestication is even more complex than initially thought. The genetic overlap between some species of modern dogs and wolves may be due to intermingling following dog domestication, not a direct line of descent from wolves, as first established.