Ancient Dog DNA Traces Canine Diversity to the Ice Age, Researchers Say

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, University of Oxford, University of Vienna and archaeologists from over ten countries have worked together for a global study of ancient dog DNA which showcases evidence that there were different types of dogs more than 11,000 years ago in the period next to Ice Age.

“Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to what extent it was linked to humans,” stated the researchers in the abstract of their paper.

Thus, they sequenced ancient DNA from 27 dogs, across Europe, the Near East and Siberia. Some of the DNA used for the said study are dogs that lived nearly 11,000 years ago.

According to the team, just after the Ice Age and before any other animal had been domesticated, there were already at least five (5) different types of dog with distinct genetic ancestries. “By 11,000 years ago, at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified, demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs during the Paleolithic,” stated the researchers.

“Dogs are our oldest and closest animal partner. Using DNA from ancient dogs is showing us just how far back our shared history goes and will ultimately help us understand when and where this deep relationship began.”

– Greger Larson, author and Director of the Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network at the University of Oxford

Furthermore, the University of Oxford has unveiled just on October 29, 2020 that the findings of the study reveals that the diversity observed between dogs in different parts of the world today originated when all humans were still hunters and gatherers.

“Some of the variation you see between dogs walking down the street today originated in the Ice Age. By the end of this period, dogs were already widespread across the northern hemisphere.”

– Pontus Skoglund, author and group leader of the Crick’s Ancient Genomics laboratory

The evolution in dog history was also compared by the researchers to changes in human evolution, lifestyles and migrations. And in line with this, the University of Oxford stated, “In many cases comparable changes took place, likely reflecting how humans would bring their dogs with them as they migrated across the world.”

Although the study has provided new insights into the early history of dog populations and their relationships with humans and each other, researchers are still trying to uncover where and in which human cultural context, dogs were first domesticated.

About the Study

This discovery was published in the in Science journal on October 30, 2020 and is called the “Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs”.

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Source: The Francis Crick Institute, University of Oxford, Science| Journal