On Aug 18, 2010, at 12:12 AM, David wrote:
Prior to the domestication of the dog, it surely was considered a food
source for the caveman. Right?
Prior to the domestication/evolution of the dog, it was a grey wolf
(analysis of the dog genome in 2005 reveals the grey wolf as the
closest living relative of the domesticated dog, with the coyote a
close second). The modern dog is estimated to have undergone a
breeding bottleneck about 9,000 generations ago (roughly 15,000 years)
that could be related to initial domestication of a population of
about 13,000 individuals.
The modern dog breeds appear to be a product of about 30-90
generations (less than 150 years) of human selective breeding (this is
the second major genome bottleneck observed).
The so-called 'ancient' breeds (akita, chow chow, Alaskan malamute,
etc.) appear to be a product of around 150 years of human selective
breeding for specific work tasks (a third genome bottleneck was
observed in these breeds).
A recent (April 2010, volume 264, pp. 898-902) article in Nature
magazine describes a genome study that indicates that the grey wolves
of the Middle East are a dominant source of genetic diversity to the
domesticated dog, though interbreeding with local wolves elsewhere
also contributed to genome diversity.
So perhaps prior to the domestication of the dog, the caveman was
considered a food source for the wolf.
Diana
P.S. In the article you posted, one of the scientists was reluctant to
claim that a 30,000 year old canid cranium belonged to a dog,
primarily because he thought the teeth looked too much like a wolf. If
they could extract enough DNA from the bones perhaps he would discover
that indeed it was from a wolf.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
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