0_Wizard
I love dogs and it's so interesting that they were the first species to be domesticated by us.
The dog was the first species to be domesticated and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes.
chosen_Dog_0
Dog
chosen_topic_0_Dog
Origin of the domestic dog
The origin of the domestic dog is not clear. The domestic dog is a member of the genus "Canis", which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The closest living relative of the dog is the extant gray wolf and there is no evidence of any other canine contributing to its genetic lineage. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated. The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.
Must Love Dogs
Must Love Dogs is a 2005 American romantic comedy film based on Claire Cook's 2002 novel of the same name. Starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, it is the second and final film directed and written by Gary David Goldberg and was produced on a budget of $30 million. The film focuses on a woman's struggle with divorce and meeting new people afterward. Production started on October 12, 2004 with a final release date of July 29, 2005. Critics opinions were mostly negative but indicated that the actors were not to blame. "Must Love Dogs" took the fifth spot on its opening weekend and has grossed more than $58 million worldwide.
Dog
The domestic dog ("Canis lupus familiaris" or "Canis familiaris") is a member of the genus "Canis" (canines), which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, which implies that the direct ancestor of the dog is extinct. The dog was the first species to be domesticated and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely attuned to human behavior and they are able to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canid species.
Dingo
The dingo ("Canis lupus dingo" or "Canis dingo") is a type of feral dog native to Australia. The first British colonists to arrive in 1788 established a settlement at Port Jackson and recorded dingoes living there with indigenous Australians. Although the dingo exists in the wild, it associates with humans but has not been selectively bred similarly to other domesticated animals. It is a medium-sized canid that possesses a lean, hardy body designed for speed, agility and stamina. The dingo's three main coat colours are described as being either light ginger (or tan), black and tan, or creamy white.
Domestication of animals
The domestication of animals is the mutual relationship between animals with the humans who have influence on their care and reproduction. Charles Darwin recognized the small number of traits that made domesticated species different from their wild ancestors. He was also the first to recognize the difference between conscious selective breeding in which humans directly select for desirable traits, and unconscious selection where traits evolve as a by-product of natural selection or from selection on other traits. There is a genetic difference between domestic and wild populations. There is also such a difference between the domestication traits that researchers believe to have been essential at the early stages of domestication, and the improvement traits that have appeared since the split between wild and domestic populations.
Dmitry Belyayev (zoologist)
Dmitry Konstantinovich Belyayev (Russian: Дмитрий Константинович Беляев, 17 July 1917 – 14 November 1985) was a Russian geneticist and academician who served as director of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (IC&G) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, from 1959 to 1985. His decades-long effort to breed domesticated foxes was described by "The New York Times" as “arguably the most extraordinary breeding experiment ever conducted.” A 2010 article in Scientific American stated that Belyayev “may be the man most responsible for our understanding of the process by which wolves were domesticated into our canine companions.”  Beginning in the 1950s, in order to uncover the genetic basis of the distinctive behavioral and physiological attributes of domesticated animals, Belyayev and his team spent decades breeding the wild silver fox ("Vulpes vulpes") and selecting for reproduction only those individuals in each generation that showed the least fear of humans.
Evolution of the wolf
The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of 800 thousand years, transforming the first Middle Pleistocene wolf specimen that is recognized as being morphologically similar to "Canis lupus" into today's dog, dingo and gray wolf. Ecological factors including habitat type, climate, prey specialization and predatory competition has greatly influenced the wolf's genetic population structure and cranio-dental plasticity. Wolves went through a population bottleneck 20,000 years before present (YBP), which indicates that many wolf populations had gone extinct at a time that coincided with the Last Glacial Maximum and the expansion of modern humans worldwide with their technology for capturing large game.
1_Apprentice
I had no idea do you know when we first started domesticating them?
0_Wizard
Well the first archaeological, undisputed remains of dogs buried with humans were 14,700 years ago with disputed remains from over 36,000 years ago.
The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.
self_Origin_of_the_domestic_dog_4
Origin of the domestic dog
self_0_Origin_of_the_domestic_dog
Origin of the domestic dog
The origin of the domestic dog is not clear. The domestic dog is a member of the genus "Canis", which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The closest living relative of the dog is the extant gray wolf and there is no evidence of any other canine contributing to its genetic lineage. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated. The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.
Dog
The domestic dog ("Canis lupus familiaris" or "Canis familiaris") is a member of the genus "Canis" (canines), which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, which implies that the direct ancestor of the dog is extinct. The dog was the first species to be domesticated and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely attuned to human behavior and they are able to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canid species.
Early human migrations
The earliest migrations and expansions of archaic and modern humans across continents began 2 million years ago with the migration out of Africa of "Homo erectus", followed by other archaic humans including "H. heidelbergensis", the likely ancestor of both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals, around 500,000 years ago. Within Africa, "Homo sapiens" diverged around the time of its speciation, roughly 300,000 years ago. The "recent African origin" paradigm suggests that the anatomically modern humans outside of Africa descend from a population of "Homo sapiens" migrating from East Africa after roughly 70,000 years ago and spread along the southern coast of Asia and to Oceania before 50,000 years ago.
Recent African origin of modern humans
The recent African origin of modern humans, also called the "Out of Africa" theory (OOA), recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH), replacement hypothesis, or recent African origin model (RAO), is, in paleoanthropology, the dominant model of the geographic origin and early migration of anatomically modern humans ("Homo sapiens"). The model proposes a single area of origin for modern humans. The "single-origin hypothesis" is cited as having scientific consensus as of the mid-2000s. According to this model, modern humans evolved in East Africa between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago. There were then at least two dispersal events from Africa to the rest of the world.
Human evolution
Human evolution is the evolutionary process that led to the emergence of anatomically modern humans, beginning with the evolutionary history of primates – in particular genus "Homo" – and leading to the emergence of "Homo sapiens" as a distinct species of the hominid family, the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits such as human bipedalism and language. The study of human evolution involves many scientific disciplines, including physical anthropology, primatology, archaeology, paleontology, neurobiology, ethology, linguistics, evolutionary psychology, embryology and genetics.
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic (or "Palaeolithic") age is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools and covers roughly 95% of human technological prehistory. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools, probably by "Homo habilis" initially, 2.6 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BP. The Paleolithic era is followed by the Mesolithic. The date of the Paleolithic–Mesolithic boundary may vary by locality as much as several thousand years. During the Paleolithic period, humans grouped together in small societies such as bands, and subsisted by gathering plants and fishing, hunting or scavenging wild animals.
Prehistoric Britain
Several species of humans have intermittently occupied Britain for almost a million years. The Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD is conventionally regarded as the end of Prehistoric Britain and the start of recorded history in the island, although some historical information is available from before then. The earliest evidence of human occupation around 900,000 years ago is at Happisburgh on the Norfolk coast, with stone tools and footprints probably made by "Homo antecessor". The oldest human fossils, around 500,000 years old, are of "Homo heidelbergensis" at Boxgrove in Sussex. Until this time Britain was permanently connected to the Continent by a chalk ridge between south-east England and north-east France called the Weald-Artois Anticline, but during the Anglian Glaciation around 425,000 years ago a megaflood broke through the ridge creating the English Channel, and after that Britain became an island when sea levels rose during interglacials.
1_Apprentice
That is really neat! I remember hearing that dogs come from wolves.
0_Wizard
Yup! the dog and extant gray wolf are sister taxa and therefore very closely related.
The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, which implies that the direct ancestor of the dog is extinct.
chosen_Dog_0
Evolution of the wolf
The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of 800 thousand years, transforming the first Middle Pleistocene wolf specimen that is recognized as being morphologically similar to "Canis lupus" into today's dog, dingo and gray wolf. Ecological factors including habitat type, climate, prey specialization and predatory competition has greatly influenced the wolf's genetic population structure and cranio-dental plasticity. Wolves went through a population bottleneck 20,000 years before present (YBP), which indicates that many wolf populations had gone extinct at a time that coincided with the Last Glacial Maximum and the expansion of modern humans worldwide with their technology for capturing large game.
Origin of the domestic dog
The origin of the domestic dog is not clear. The domestic dog is a member of the genus "Canis", which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The closest living relative of the dog is the extant gray wolf and there is no evidence of any other canine contributing to its genetic lineage. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated. The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.
Gray wolf
The gray wolf ("Canis lupus"), also known as the timber wolf or western wolf, is a canine native to the wilderness and remote areas of Eurasia and North America. It is the largest extant member of its family, with males averaging and females . Like the red wolf, it is distinguished from other "Canis" species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy and predominantly a mottled gray in color, although nearly pure white, red, and brown to black also occur. "Mammal Species of the World" (3rd ed., 2005), a standard reference work in zoology, recognises 38 subspecies of "C. lupus"..Gray wolfs are pack hunters.
Dog
The domestic dog ("Canis lupus familiaris" or "Canis familiaris") is a member of the genus "Canis" (canines), which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, which implies that the direct ancestor of the dog is extinct. The dog was the first species to be domesticated and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely attuned to human behavior and they are able to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canid species.
Red wolf
The red wolf ("Canis rufus" or "Canis lupus rufus"), also known as the Florida black wolf or Mississippi Valley wolf, is a canid of unresolved taxonomic identity native to the eastern United States. It is generally, morphologically, an intermediate between the coyote and gray wolf, and is of a reddish, tawny color. The Red Wolf is a federally listed endangered species of the United States, and is protected by law. It has been listed by IUCN as a critically endangered species since 1996. It is considered the rarest species of wolf and is one of the five most endangered species of wolf in the world.
Megafaunal wolf
The megafaunal wolf ("Canis cf. lupus") was a Late Pleistocene – early Holocene hypercarnivore similar in size to a large extant gray wolf. It had a shorter, broader palate with large carnassial teeth relative to its overall skull size. This adaptation allowed it to predate and scavenge on Pleistocene megafauna. Such an adaption is an example of phenotypic plasticity. In 2007, the words "megafaunal" and "wolf" appeared separated in the title of a study. In 2013, one of the study co-authors first used the term "megafaunal wolf" in a media release. The megafaunal wolf ("Canis cf. lupus", where cf.
Canis
Canis is a genus of the Canidae containing multiple extant species, such as wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dogs. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-developed skulls and dentition, long legs, and comparatively short ears and tails. The generic name "Canis" means "dog" in Latin. The term "canine" comes from the adjective form, "caninus" ("of the dog"), from which the term canine tooth is also derived. The canine family has prominent canine teeth, used for killing their prey. The word "canis" is cognate to the Greek word "kūon" (Greek: Κύων), which means "dog", as well as (less transparently) English "hound".