Evolution Of Dogs Research Paper

Humans and dogs have long shared a bond that was based on function. Early dogs that were the least valuable and useful did not make it into today’s time. On the other hand, the most valuable and helpful of dogs remained and created others like them. Ultimately, breed predecessors were produced by breeding the best hunters to the best hunters and the best guards to the best

For millions of years dogs have remained a constant companion of man. Bred from the aggressive and formidable Gray Wolf tens of thousands of years ago the domestic dog now lives in many homes across the world. Where in the far distant past the domestic dog was bred as a guard animal, a beast of burden, and even a food source the dogs of today are bred for a far more endearing purpose-companionship and love. Finding a pet dog that is more of a joy than a chore is necessary when asking: How much is that puppy in the window?

The grey wolf has been transformed into what we, today, call a dog. After years of traveling with humans, the wolf began to change and became adapted and tame enough to socialize with humans. The environment it was placed into was one of the causes for change, and another was the role it played for humans.

Through Europe during early 1900s, dogs were being bred to sustain characteristics that allowed reinforced their jobs of herding animals.

    Dogs have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. Food from the humans would bring the dogs to them, and the dogs would bark at predators when they came so the people started to feed the dogs to keep them around. In the 1’st century AD in China Roman mosaics show evidence of the present day Pekingese and Roman ladies also had lap dogs. They believe the dogs warmth cures stomach aches. The earliest evidence of any domesticated dog is a jawbone found in Iraq in a cave about 12,000 years ago. We know it is a jawbone of a dog because a jawbone of a wolf is smaller and the teeth is smaller.

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.

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

Dogs are known to have a scientific name called canis lupus but were previously called canis familiaris. The Latin word for dog is canon, and has several common names such as puppy, hound, mutt etc… There are different types of dog breeds such as Havanese, Canaan dogs, Bull dogs, Chihuahua, Vizsla, poodle, and much more. Dogs are highly variable in height and weight. The tallest dog which is called Great Dane stands about 106.7 cm (42.0 in) at the shoulder. Behavioral studies have shown that the dog's visual world consists of yellows, blues and grays, but however they have difficulty differentiating red and green making their color vision equivalent to red–green color blindness in humans.

The first domestication of dogs is known to be about 20,000 years ago. Dogs were the first real animal to be domesticated. The first name of the modern dog was known as a jackal. Soon after the animal was domesticated it became known as the dog. The way the dog was domesticated happened when children would bring the creature home with them and then they would play with the jackal. Also, the adults found that the jackal protected their houses from other creatures and other people. The people also learned that the jackal or dog could track animals and food with their great sense of smell (You and your Pet

Dogs are believed to originate from wolves, but theories investigate and lead to the cross breed of a wolf and a coyote. "Scientists have used DNA evidence to show that, more than likely, the dog did indeed descend from the gray wolf". (HowStuffWorks) Other research such as the mitochondrial DNA of a dog suggests that dogs and wolves were a completely different species about 100,000 years ago. In DNA scientists have found more dogs have a higher percentage of wolf genes from wolves native to the middle east. With these studies scientists believe that the middle east was the original location where domestication occurred. Historians believe that dogs were first domesticated by humans before any other animal. Much scientific evidence was based on the behavior and appearance of dogs. Canines were specifically said to be just tamed wolves but in other cases researchers believe wolves were attracted by humans waist. (Beam) This means these wolves were attracted to human settlements. These canines first were socialized because they were brave enough to approach humans, yet not so aggressively because they were getting fed. After a period of time passed dogs features adapted to being fed and not having to hunt anymore so their features changed overtime. As more time passed and these dogs became more appreciate to humans, humans started to breed the dogs to help with hunting, herding, taking guard, and carrying heavy stuff. The earliest finding of dog bones that were discovered were in Belgium in 2008 and they are believed to be from 31,700 years

Dogs were not always how they are today. Almost 35,000 years ago, they were wolves. Humans saw most wolves as a threat. Even though they saw each other as enemies, there was a point where they helped each other. This is what helped them evolve. It all started when wolves went to human camps to devour some scraps of food. Because of this, the wolves were healthy and had many pups. The pups inherited the parents' habit of snacking on leftovers. This cycle repeated over and over. Wolves were willing to get closer to people. Humans soon realized that wolves make very good guards because they protected the humans from many dangerous animals. As a result, wolves living near the humans started to change.

Did you know that humans in the past thought of dogs as predators? Humans did not even think about having a wolf as a pet. Our relationships with wolves have changed over time. They have changed and we have changed. Humans used to think of wolves as animals to stay away from. They never thought that the wolves could become their pet or even their best friend. Wolves eventually changed over time, but they had to be trained from a wild beast to a highly trained animal. Humans have been killed trying to tame the wild beast! The wolves have gradually changed into what we know as a dog. Of course, they all come from the species of dogs, but the dogs in modern time are mostly tamed. Some dogs are born vicious and malicious, but they can be tamed over time just like the wolves were. They have to learn to behave just like humans. Dogs and humans have become where they love each other so much just like human love each other. Their relationship has changed because of that. The relationship between dogs and humans has changed over time because the wolf evolved into the dog. The dogs have become man's best friend instead of an enemy.

Every wonder how “Man’s best friend” evolved? With over 350 different breeds, from the Chihuahua to the Great Dane, all dogs have descended from the Grey Wolf. The domestication of dogs by man dates back at least twelve thousand years. Domestication of the wolf may have begun with orphaned wolf cubs brought into villages and raised by children. Ancient man may have also started the domestication process by befriending wolves which helped them hunt and drive herds. (Kodat, 2002)

1. The origins of dogs. Dogs are in essence descended from modern day wolves. While domestication has dampened or eliminated many traits, some key natural instincts still remain. Like wolves, dogs are pack animals. What does this mean?

Another theory is that pack behaviour in dogs is similar enough to human social behaviour that dogs developed independently from humans, then became domesticated because their behavior already aligned with that of with early humans. Some evidence of that is the fact that humans and canines have occupied the same geographical regions for hundreds of thousands of years. Our best estimate of dogs became domesticated is somewhere between 14,700 and 36,000 years ago (Liane, Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel).