New study on genetic origins of dogs

[BCSnob]

When you’re bored with other things during this COVID isolation here is a recently published genetic study of dogs and man looking at how both spread throughout the world together (sometimes not together).

Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs

Here is a commentary on this study and the current state of knowledge on this topic.

Of dogs and men

A few interesting takeaways are:

Of dogs and men wrote:
Dogs likely evolved from a wolf population that self-domesticated, scavenging for leftovers from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers in Eurasia (2, 3). However, the exact timing and geographic location where the dog lineage started remain unknown, owing to the scarcity of Paleolithic dogs in the archaeological record. Analyses of genetic data suggest that dog-wolf divergence took place ?25,000 to 40,000 years ago (4, 5), providing an earliest possible date for dog domestication.

Dogs genetically split from wolves after which there was limited genetic intermixing; when intermixing occurred it was mostly dogs adding to the wolf genome. The authors proposed that adding wolf genes to the dog genome resulted in wolf-dogs with less than desired traits for living and working with humans.

Of dogs and men wrote:
genetic relations between human populations largely match the genetic relations between proximal dog populations in Eurasia and the Americas, suggesting that movement patterns are correlated between dog and human. For instance, about half of the ancestry of European dogs originates from Paleolithic West Eurasia, and the other half from Southwest Asia; similarly, modern-day Europeans are a mixture between pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers from Anatolia.

Also dogs and men developed genetic changes correlated with changes in diet.

Of dogs and men wrote:
In addition to sharing dispersal paths, dogs and humans have traced parallel paths of evolutionary adaptation. Variation in the copy number of genes encoding amylase, the enzyme required for breaking down starch, is such an example of convergent evolution. Humans carry extra salivary amylase copies compared to chimpanzees (8, 9), owing to high starch consumption that perhaps began before farming (10). Likewise, most dogs, compared to wolves, carry extra pancreatic amylase (AMYB2) copies, possibly facilitating starch digestion in their new environment (11). Bergström and colleagues show that early dogs already carried extra amylase copies compared to wolves, but amylase copy numbers further expanded following the increasing reliance on starch-rich agricultural diets in prehistoric Eurasia over the past 7000 years. Similarly, a recent study on Arctic sled dogs reported genetic signatures of adaptation in their fatty acid metabolism genes (12), analogous to their Inuit masters who carry adaptive changes in the same metabolic pathways—a likely response to the high-fat Arctic diet (13).

There is more for when you’re in the mood

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Oh how the world has turned.

Now dogs has domesticated humans to be obedient to their dogs and their master.

[Lwiddis]

Very informative. TY for posting.

[ppine]

Very logical thinking. Thanks for posting.
Dogs are the one domesticated animal most suitable for living with humans. They are like a Gift from God.
The Border Collie is the greatest gift. Not the easiest dogs, but the best dogs.

[ReneeG]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[dturm]

BCSnob wrote:
In addition to sharing dispersal paths, dogs and humans have traced parallel paths of evolutionary adaptation. Variation in the copy number of genes encoding amylase, the enzyme required for breaking down starch, is such an example of convergent evolution. Humans carry extra salivary amylase copies compared to chimpanzees (8, 9), owing to high starch consumption that perhaps began before farming (10). Likewise, most dogs, compared to wolves, carry extra pancreatic amylase (AMYB2) copies, possibly facilitating starch digestion in their new environment (11). Bergström and colleagues show that early dogs already carried extra amylase copies compared to wolves, but amylase copy numbers further expanded following the increasing reliance on starch-rich agricultural diets in prehistoric Eurasia over the past 7000 years. ..

There is more for when you’re in the mood

Very interesting. This means that dogs actually can utilize those EVIL grains and have been for eons?? (Read sarcasm for those of you who don't know my posting history :B)

Thanks for sharing.