Mar. 6,
2013 — Analysis of DNA extracted from a fossil tooth recovered in southern
Siberia confirms that the tooth belonged to one of the oldest known ancestors
of the modern dog, and is described in research published March 6 in the open
access journal PLOS ONE by Anna Druzhkova from the Institute of
Molecular and Cellular Biology, Russian Federation, and colleagues from other
institutions.
Human
domestication of dogs predates the beginning of agriculture about 10,000 years
ago, but when modern dogs emerged as a species distinct from wolves is still
unclear. Although some previous studies have suggested that this separation of
domestic dogs and wolves occurred over 100,000 years ago, the oldest known
fossils of modern dogs are only about 36,000 years old.
The new
research published today evaluates the relationship of a 33,000 year old
Siberian fossil to modern dogs and wolves based on DNA sequence. The
researchers found that this fossil, named the 'Altai dog' after the mountains
where it was recovered, is more closely related to modern dogs and prehistoric
canids found on the American continents than it is to wolves.
They add,
""These results suggest a more ancient history of the dog outside the
Middle East or East Asia , previously thought
to be the centers where dogs originated."
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