An international team of scientists has just identified what they believe is the world's first known dog, which was a large and toothy canine that lived 31,700 years ago and subsisted on a diet of horse, musk ox and reindeer, according to a new study.
Oft-cited contenders for the title of oldest dog breeds include the basenji, which was depicted in cave paintings in Libya that date back to around 6000 BC, the Chinese saluki, which was depicted on Egyptian caves dating to 2100 BC, and the Afghan hound, which is classed as a basal breed and predates modern dog breeds.
The archaeological record and genetic analysis show the remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dog buried beside humans 14,200 years ago to be the first undisputed dog, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.
This evidence places constraints on when and where dog domestication took place. Most significantly, it suggests that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ∼23,000 y ago, possibly while both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum.
Scientists have come up with a broad picture of the origins of dogs. First off, researchers agree that they evolved from ancient wolves.
It seems the that the cat family branched off first, 10.3 million years ago, before the family of dog-like mammals, 7.8 million years ago.
The Siberian Husky, originally and still used for sledding, is very similar to wolves. Overtime not only has the resemblance to wolves stayed similar, but the genetic composition has as well.
The researchers estimate that dogs and wolves diverged genetically between 36,900 and 41,500 years ago, and that eastern and western dogs split 17,500–23,900 years ago. Because domestication had to have happened between those events, the team puts it somewhere from 20,000 to 40,000 years ago.
DNA discovery dating back to 685 BC makes the Chinese Saluki the second oldest dog breed in history. Also known as the Shanxi Xigou, this dog was around during the Tang Dynasty ruling of China.
All modern dogs are descendants of wolves, though this domestication may have happened twice, producing groups of dogs descended from two unique common ancestors.
Scientists generally agree that dogs emerged from wolves to become the first domesticated animal. Their wolf ancestors began to associate with people, maybe drawn by food in garbage dumps and carcasses left by human hunters.
The story of how dogs have evolved from wolf to Chihuahua is a fascinating one that starts with our respective ancestors earliest encounters. Most researchers who study canine genetics agree that dogs are really domesticated wolves – after all, their scientific name is Canis lupus familiaris.
And they do exist—mules, for instance, are the result of a horse and donkey mating. But creating hybrids of animals that are very genetically distinct from each other—such as a dog and a cat—is scientifically impossible, as is one species giving birth to an entirely different one.
Researchers found that the version of the gene IGF1 that is a major determinant of small size in dogs probably originated as a result of domestication of the Middle Eastern gray wolf, which also happens to be smaller than many other wolves.
The earliest cats probably appeared about 35 to 28.5 million years ago. Proailurus is the oldest known cat that occurred after the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event about 33.9 million years ago; fossil remains were excavated in France and Mongolia's Hsanda Gol Formation.
It's likely that, with time, dogs would learn to adjust, survive and potentially thrive in a world without us. Besides, nearly 80 percent of the world's dogs today are free-ranging; therefore, not having humans around wouldn't matter much to most dogs.
Taken together, there is cumulating evidence that dogs obtain social information from their experiences with humans, specifically from their facial expressions. They can recognize and remember individual humans.
The Kangal is a large, muscular dog that typically weighs between 100 and 130 pounds. They have been trained to guard sheep and other flocks against giant predators such as wolves, jackals, and bears. The Kangal has a mighty bite, with a bite force of 743 PSI. It is the highest bite force of any dog breed.
Border collie
According to The Intelligence of Dogs, which ranks 131 dog breeds in terms of their relative intelligence, the border collie is the smartest dog breed known to man.
Scientists believe the dog was the first animal to be domesticated, though some believe it may even have been earlier. Since then, numerous animals including horses, pigs, and even honeybees have been domesticated for human purposes—like farming and companionship, among others.
Canines. The third group, the Canines includes the wolf and all living species of dogs.
What was the first domesticated animal? The dog. No one can pinpoint exactly when humans first started keeping dogs as pets, but estimates range from roughly 13,000 to 30,000 years ago.