Origin and Domestication of Dogs
The origin and domestication of dogs trace back to the late Pleistocene epoch, approximately 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, when humans and ancient wolves formed a mutually beneficial relationship.
Genetic and archaeological evidence suggests that domestication likely occurred in Eurasia, where certain wolf populations gradually adapted to living alongside human hunter-gatherers.
The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is the only member of the Canidae that can be said to be fully domesticated. The immediate wild ancestor of Canis familiaris has been the subject of much debate.
The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) belongs to the following classification and taxonomy:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Carnivora
- Family: Canidae
- Genus: Canis
- Species: Canis lupus (Gray wolf)
- Subspecies: Canis lupus familiaris
At one time it was believed that the dog was descended from the intez, said that some breeds of dogs were descended from the golden jackal, while others, those that he called “lupus” breeds were directly descended from the wolf. breeding of wolves, coyotes, jackals and other wild canids.
Linnaeus on the contrary, considered the dog to be a separate species, distinguished by its upturned tail, a characteristic found in no other canid. More recently, wolf and dog expert Micdhael Fox developed a “missing link” theory. He believes that the dog is descended from a new-extinct European dingo like dog.
Current behavioural, morphological and molecular biological evidence supports the wolf (Canis lupus) as the primary wild ancestor of our present day dog.
The important similarity between wolf and dog are basic social nature, method of communication facial expressions and vocalisations.
Most researchers agree that the dog was first domesticated and selectively bred in the context of a forager (hunter-gatherer) society.
The earliest remains of a domesticated fog that have been found are dated around 12,000 to 14,000 years ago.
At present, the earliest find of a domesticated dog consists of a mandible from a late Paleolithic grave at Oberkassel in Germany, it is dated at 14,000 years BP (before present), 2000 years earlier than the sites in western Asia from where a cluster of canid remains has been identified as belonging to Canis familiaris.
