THE DOG ENCYCLOPEDIA / موسوعة الكلاب

THE DOG ENCYCLOPEDIA – THE DEFINITIVE VISUAL

Evolution of the dog

There are an estimated 500 million domestic dogs worldwide, and all of them are related.

At the base of their evolutionary tree stands the gray wolf, from which every type and breed of dog has descended.

As geneticists have discovered, in terms of DNA, the difference between wolf and dog is infinitesimal.

While natural selection has produced some of the changes that make one type of dog different from another, the effect of human influence has been far greater.

It could be said that of the hundreds of modern dogs known today, all of them are man-made.

DAWN OF THE DOG

The history of the dog, and its transformation from wolf to domestic companion, goes back deep in prehistory, to the settlements of early hunter-gatherer peoples.

In these primitive communities, wolves would scavenge among the litter around the camp site and were a useful source of hides and meat.

The wolves might also, inadvertently, raise the alarm should an intruder or outsider approach the camp.

Just why people first brought wolves

into the domestic circle can perhaps be partly

explained by the fact that humans in general

seem programmed to adopt animals, either as

playmates or status symbols.

Possibly a small furry wolf cub appealed to our ancestors as much as it would to anyone today.

Being social animals, wolves that became campside hangers-on may have readily made the transition between bonding with their pack and bonding with humans, particularly if there were advantages in terms of food and shelter.

As hunters themselves, early people would have been familiar with the behavior of wolves and appreciative of their persistence and skill when working as a team to track and bring down prey.

Once tribespeople realized that a tame wolf with a sharp nose and a strong killing instinct would be an asset as a hunting companion, the human and dog partnership was born.

If, as seems likely, the most promising animals were picked out for such use, this would also have been the very beginning of a selection process for desirable traits that still continues among dog breeders today.