Belyaev: The Evolution Of Dogs

Nobody knows exactly when dogs were domesticated there is so many different showings of when dogs were domesticated but the latest would be where it says 32,000 years ago. The domestication of cats and dogs or  any animals come from humans and animals living so close to each other in close quarter communities. Genes during domestication overlaps with the genes from humans, the same kind of genes are for digestion, metabolism, neurological process and cancer according to population genetics. So humans and animals both was domesticated from the same genes. Human and animals are a lot alike. “Biologist Raymond Coppinger has another idea, the wolves domesticated themselves he suspects the process would have begun at the end of the last Ice Age approximately 15,000 years ago” (“What Caused The Domestication Of Wolves”). Coppinger believes in “flight distance” which is a behavioral characteristics that transformed the wild dogs to the modern dog

The domestic dog has to be one of the most unique animals that the human had ever bred. All dogs were formed differently and for separate reasons; whether it be for their looks or for their personal attributes, the dog has been evolved around humans and yet many breeds were created by humans themselves. I also believe that having a dog is a necessity to having a balanced life, just how Cesar Millan was quoted on the Brainy Quote web page “The dog can only become what's in your bubble. The dog is imitating the energy that is in your bubble. You are the source, the feast of energy. If you feel anxious, the dog becomes anxious with you. If you become nervous, the dog wakes up nervous with you”. Your dog runs off of your actions and emotions

Have you ever had a dog? Do you know where dogs came from? Well, did you know that a million of years ago dogs did not exist. Back, then the dogs were wolves that disliked people. The relationship between dogs and humans has changed over time because over thousands of years ago, the wolves evolved to dogs and the dogs soon became part of human families. That is why these days people want to have a dog as a pet.

The true origin of the dog is unknown, since there are many theories about how they became to be. The grey wolf is the most probable ancestor of all current dogs breeds. Early humans formed an unlikely partnership with the grey wolf. It was to say that dogs were wild until about 12,000 years ago, but in 1997 a DNA analysis suggested a date of about 130,000 years ago for the transformation of wolves to dogs. Which means wolves began to adapt to human society long before humans settled down and began learning agriculture. One group suggested that wolves and dogs split 32,000 years ago, somewhere in East Asia. An analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 18 fossil canids. They were the first animal we humans domesticated. The fates of our two species became braided together.

Many scientists over the years have tested and retested the theory that dogs are a modern branch off wolves. One theory states that dogs and wolves are evolved from an ancient European wolf that is now extinct. Another says that over the years wolves became so domesticated, they became today’s cute and loveable pet. Another theory says that dogs and wolves mated over the years to create modern day friendly pets we welcome in our homes. Could our adorable, sweet puppies really have originated from those savage beasts?

It was further hypothesized by father-son team S.J. Olsen and J.W. Olsen (1977) that the domestication of dogs started in China. They proposed that, starting with a small subspecies of wolf, humans changed it into the modern

The most likely scenario for wolves beginning to coexist with humans is that a human hunting party came across a very young wolf cub and decided to take it with them. The wolf cub would have been very puppy-like at an early age. The reason that humans would ever take a wolf cub is because the cub would be seen as a valuable resource to humans back then. The wolf cub would become a sort of tool for humans since it is a better tracker,

3). From the beginning of this chapter, it is apparent that dogs are seen as possessions intended as hunting tools, and they are treated as such. They were instruments used to get tasks done efficiently, to make life easier for the humans - somewhat reminiscent of what machines do for modern humans. Rogers used the phrase, “Hunting was a partnership between men and hounds”1 which suggests that the relationship was fundamentally a ‘business’ one, simply seen as a partnership, instead of companionship or a friendship. Dogs were tailored to fit the hunters’ needs and to do this, they crossed certain breeds to obtain specialized dogs with specific functions, disregarding the natural order of things, forcing their evolution. Evolution is grounded in the idea that a species evolves to adapt a changing environment and these hunters forced the dogs’ evolution without caring about what the dog needs to survive. In one instance they sacrificed one of the more basic functions to obtain a more focused sense: the scent hound, with its long muzzle and long drooping ears made it ideal for scent tracking but minimized hearing2. The hunters also adapted the practice of behavior modification which involved

Be happy you did not live on Earth 35,000 years ago, sheets of ice covered and dogs. threats. Though generally wary of much of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. There were no nations yet, no cities or towns. For many of our early ancestors, life was a daily struggle. Many lived in caves or in huts made of animal bones. They hunted reindeer using stones and sticks. Danger lurked everywhere— diseases with no cures, saber- toothed tigers with 11-inch fangs, elephant-like mastodons with tusks as long and sharp as swords. But it was also during this harsh time—now known as the Ice Age—that something beautiful was born: the friendship between humans and dogs.

In the beginning which is the ice age in this point the relationship between dogs and humans has changed overtime. It used to be that these creatures were our sworn enemies and hated each other and always fought for survival. And now we love them and consider them as family, so how did this relationship change? Well our first piece of evidence is in the article “How the Wolf Became the Dog” it states that scientist most common theory is “Bold Wolves began venturing into human camps to gobble up scraps. They would give birth to pups who inherited their parents bold personalities and, like their parents, made a habit of snacking on leftover human meals.”

Across the United States, many families own dogs. The stereotypical man’s best friend has lived up to its standard thus far, but not everyone likes dogs. Canines are viewed as family in the US but are perceived differently in cultures exterior to our own.

Millions of people worldwide take care of domestic animals, with dogs being one of the most common. Man’s best friend was only fairly recently tamed by people. Around 10 to 30 thousand years ago in East Asia, wild wolves began to follow human hunter-gatherers, and scavenge on scraps of food. If a wolf was not aggressive, it had a better chance to form bonds with people. Humans began to feed the wolves, luring them closer, until the animals would loiter around their camps to eat food scraps. Scientists are not exactly sure why humans decided to let the wolves live with them; after all, people killed off most carnivorous animal species when they fought over a food supply. It is thought, however, that tribes used dogs to help them hunt for game,

The parent wolfs would protect the scrap pile from other predators and at the same time helping us, and in protecting the pile the wolfs died and there pups were abandoned. Man brought these pups with them to there camps and grew them up around us. As we changed the wolf pups to be with us they genetically changed over the years into- the protodog the beginning to the dog. Man rewarded the dogs with the best behavior and killed off the one whom where aggressive. Unintentionally man genetically changed and created the friendly dog who didn’t bite And we still do this today with selective breeding practices that alter a dogs look and

Thousands of years ago the wolves stepped out of the forest and transformed in an evolutionary blink of the eye into what we now call a “dog”. They originated from East Asia and changed the human life forever. From the descendants of ancient wild dogs in Papua New Guinea to a hairless breed is thought to have magical powers in Mexico. Without dogs, we would still be hunters and gatherers if it wasn’t for dogs. We would also lack guardians and expert guides.

There are several theories on how the evolution from wolf to dog came about. One theory is that the human environment attracted wolves. Wolves started following people around to take advantage of food scraps that were left behind. Eventually, wolves lost fear of people, and people lost fear of wolves. The benefits of this new relationship were not just one way. Wolves also helped humans by sniffing out prey and helping them hunt. Success likely meant the humans would share their food with wolves. This is a very popular theory, but it has been disputed. Archeological digs show that the early dogs were not eating the same mammoth meat that the humans were eating. Instead, their main diet consisted mostly of less popular human meat such as reindeer. The prehistoric dogs also had many broken teeth and severe facial wounds. Although these injuries could be from fighting with other dogs, many scientists believe the dogs had been beaten with sticks, leading many to assume the relationship between man and prehistoric dog was not as companionable as the theory would suggest.