The domestic dog biologically belongs to the mammals of the order of predators. Researchers still argue about who is the progenitor of the dog. And although most people are convinced that dogs are domesticated wolves, scientific reasoning is not so straightforward. It should be said at once: the final point in the research on this topic is not set.
Evolutionary theory
The two main theories of the origin of dogs include monophyletic and polyphyletic. The first means that the animal originated from the same ancestor, the second suggests that the progenitors of the dog were different animals. The researchers, who are supporters of monophilia, are sure: the wild wolf is the ancestor of the dog. The skull and outer features of the wolf are really similar to the dog, and the process of domestication (domestication) changed the cranial bones of the animal.
According to the evolutionary hypothesis, domestication took place in a particular place, and only then the dogs began to settle everywhere on Earth. True, even supporters of monophilia did not agree that the wolf is still the “great-grandfather” of the dog. - Some scientists believe that dogs originated from the coyote or jackal.
Howbeit, the dog is considered the first tamed animal. Archaeological excavations made it clear that this happened even in the Stone Age, when people had not yet engaged in farming and raising cattle, but they were hunting for a wild beast. In 1862, researchers found the remains of a dog on Swiss lakes, they were attributed to the Neolithic period. It was a small animal, it was called a peat (or marsh) dog.
It is believed that human evolution demanded an evolutionary development from a domesticated beast. As soon as our ancestors began to lead a sedentary lifestyle, as soon as they began to engage in farming and animal husbandry, the requirements for a domesticated dog also increased. And this was the first impetus for breeding.
It should be said that one of the first serious works on the origin of the dog belongs to the pen of the famous scientist Konrad Lorenz. The scientist assumed that the man initially attracted the jackal to serving himself - the jackal began to inform the man about the approach of larger predators.
If you read the monograph of Lorenz, we can conclude: All dogs appeared from the wolf and the jackal, and there are breeds "jackals", and there are "wolf". And this does not fit into the concept of monophyletic theory.
Darwin Research
1859 was a great year for the world of natural science and science in general. C. Darwin presented the world work "The Origin of Species", in it he outlined the theory of natural selection. In particular, about the dogs it says the following: they were selected according to the principle of artificiality; the key force of selection was the people who abducted wolves from the den and then tamed them. This view led to the conclusion: people united with wolves in a mutually beneficial alliance, on the human side the mind was used, on the part of the wolf - the skills of a predator.
But if you read the work of the researcher carefully, you can say that Darwin shared the polyphyletic hypotheses. And to be more precise, Darwin allowed polyphilia. The breeds of domestic dogs in specific countries are similar to wild members of the genus Canis. But to rely in studies of the origin of dogs only on Darwin today is unwise. The researcher himself could not know much, since at that time the systematics and history were not sufficiently developed to draw confident conclusions.
Polyphyletic theory actually has more adherents. Its supporters, who have a great deal of argumentation and scientific justification than Darwin at one time, suggest that the ancestor of the dog could become a coyote-like representative of the ancient animal world, but interspecific hybridization was not at all excluded. However, they agree with Darwin on the main points: there was an artificial selection, the main criterion of which was increasing loyalty to man.
Opinion of modern scientists
Today, researchers more broadly, but more carefully, look at the question of the origin of the dog. So, more and more often in the scientific press began to appear work, indicating that the wolf and the dog - not the ancestor and descendant, but to be more precise, "cousins." Found that they separated from the common progenitor in the range of 11-34 thousand years ago. This theory is developed by the scientist Adam Friedman and his like-minded people from the Chicago laboratory.
To come to such conclusions, experts examined the genomes of a number of dog breeds from areas where wolves do not live today. The wolves, on the other hand, genetically studied those that live in places where the domestication of dogs was supposedly started. As an external group (this means a species close to the one that is being studied), ordinary jackals were taken.
Genetic analyzes, a complex pattern and comparison of all groups in a single-nucleotide mutation lineup led to the construction of a system of related dogs and wolves. And it turned out that absolutely all dogs are genetically close, and the wolves, I must say, created a separate cluster.
So experts have suggested that at a certain historical moment (when it is precisely unknown) wolves and dogs detached from a common ancestor, but did not lose the ability to interbreed with each other. And these crossbreeding, probably, led scientists to a false idea, because initially genetics decided that the wolf's genes in a dog - this is evidence of the formation of a dog from a wolf. California scientists, who also conducted research on the same topic, agreed with Chicago colleagues. So, for today the opinion of the academic community, although in some places it is divided, but to the fact that dogs and wolves are not direct relatives.
Interestingly, modern researchers have been able to identify an important point: the percentage of amylase produced (an enzyme that helps in the processing of starch) in dogs is produced in larger quantities. Only Siberian Huskies and Dingo have less enzyme than wolves. This is direct evidence that Dogs, domesticated by man, included in their diet plant food.
When was the dog domesticated?
No less interesting is the process of domestication of the dog. The most likely period of history, when the animal socialized, is the boundary of the upper Neolithic and Mesolithic, that is, about 15 thousand years ago. If we assume that a person took a predatory animal to tame him, the scenarios of this domestication were still different. More precisely, not always the initiator was the man himself. It is believed that in certain areas in the wolf packs individuals appeared tolerant to humans. It sounds implausible, but scientists do not renounce this version.
An experiment with foxes of Dmitry Belyaev became interesting for science (and very valuable). At a Siberian fur farm, Belyaev led a experiment for decades that was created to answer the main questions of animal domestication. There is no longer a scientist, but his research is continued by followers.
What is the essence of the research: on the fur farm for breeding red foxes, Belyaev had 2 populations. The first foxes were selected randomly, without reference to certain qualities. But in the second group, the hit was organized by conducting a special test. Seven-month-old foxes were tested for a relationship with a person: a person approached a cage, tried to touch an animal, to come into contact with it.If the fox showed aggression, fear, she did not fall into the experimental sample.
The result of the experiment confirmed the old guesses of scientists: after several generations of such selection, a group of animals that had been domestically formed. This means that ancient people also probably selected animals loyal to him. So the dog appeared.
Important! The domestication is called selection, which is aimed at reducing the level of aggression, the growing interest in the owner and the desire to interact with him.
Interesting domestication facts:
- Numerous genetic analyzes have shown: the ancient dog’s birthplace is Europe, not India (as was previously thought);
- an animal, which later became a domestic one, could come to a man to smell food, a man gained benefit from these evocations;
- it probably took more than one century for the wild animal to become a dog, but today the process of domestication is faster, as the selection rules are clearly regulated;
- Academician Pavlov believed that it was the dog that made a man a man, in part it led him to settled life, and even cattle breeding and agriculture;
- domestication is not equal to domestication, the first preceded the second.
Unbroken from this issue, the essence of which - selectionand the question of the appearance of dog breeds.
How and when did dog breeds appear?
Today in the world there are about 4 hundreds of officially registered dog breeds. The first dogs were, one might say, universal, they performed different functions, they took one dog to hunt, but the shepherd’s service did another. So people noticed that animals cope with their duties in different ways, they began to allocate those who better protect or hunt. The first division of dogs appeared: guard and hunting dogs emerged.
Subsequently, the similarities and differences of the exterior also became an occasion for the separation of dogs. The intended use of the dog was also narrowed: among the hunting breeds, hounds, burrows, and cops appeared. Each breed bred with a definite, perfectly clear purpose.
Decorative dogs appeared later, their purpose - for the amusement of nobility. To have such a dog meant to glam, to demonstrate one’s enviable position.
Heredity and variability are the properties of the genes that genetics studies, and these properties help a person to breed for a given quality.. For example, in order to hunt burrowing animals, a man brought a taxus - short legs and a stretched format should help the taxa get the beast out of the hole. The shortened paws were able to turn out due to chondrodystrophy - individuals with this ailment were crossed with each other, and the desired sign was fixed.
You should know that the breed is a group of animals that has a common origin and the same features that are inherited. And this group of animals is created by man.
The process of formation of new breeds is happening now. For example, the Russian steppe hound formed only in the second half of the last century as an aboriginal breed. Breeds in a sense live their lives: some disappear, others appear. For this reason UNESCO declared the already existing breeds of domestic animals the heritage of mankind. Naturally, the attitude to breeding, breeding for many years has been criticized by animal defenders: some of them consider the actions of breeders to be fascist.
This question lies in the ethical plane. On the one hand, man really does experiment on animals, cross and select, rejects the weak. Zoozaschitniki consider dog shows, contests mockery of animals and inhuman opposition of a strong being to the weak.
On the other hand A dog is not just a friend of man, it is a domesticated animal that can live with a man and serve him. To this end, she was tamed and domesticated, and for the dog - the meaning of life is to be near the owner and serve him.And this means that a person has a moral right to engage in breeding and breeding breeds. Disputes are underway, and will continue for a long time, since the truth is somewhere in the middle. One thing is clear for sure: if you start a dog, you are responsible for it, and you have no right to cancel this responsibility.
Whatever the breed of dog, whatever circumstances you are pushed to abandon the dog, from the day she came to your home, you have no right to betray her.
Only equal respect in the “man-dog” system is the only permanent value and condition of this historically established union.
You will learn about the origins of dogs from the video below.
