Dogs Have a Single

Genetic Origin: Study

A new genetic analysis contradicts a 2016 study proposing that our canine companions
were domesticated from two distinct populations.

By Diana Kwon | July 18, 2017

Modern dogs may have originated from a single group of wolves domesticated in Europe around
40,000 years ago, according to a study published today (July 18) in Nature Communications.

To analyze the genetic origin of dogs, researchers first sequenced the genomes from the
remains of two Neolithic dogs, one around 7,000-years-old and another approximately 4,700-
years-old, discovered at archeological sites in Germany. They then compared the genetic
information from these two caninesand the DNA of 5,000-year-old dog remains found in
Irelandto that of 5,649 modern dogs and wolves.

According to the studys authors, the results of this analysis suggest that all modern-day dogs
originated from a single group of wolves domesticated around 40,000 years ago in Europe.

Given the high degree of sharing of sweeps [genetic signatures] between these ancient samples
and modern samples, it seems clear that these dogs descend from a single domestication
origin, Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University who was not involved in the work,
told The Washington Post in an email.

These results contradict the findings reported in a 2016 paper in Science, which suggested that
dogs were domesticated twice from distinct wolf populations in Europe and East Asia. One of the
coauthors of that study, Greger Larson, an Oxford University evolutionary biologist,
tells The Washington Post that the new research doesnt rule out the possibility of two separate
domestication events. They don't provide an alternative scenario for the ridiculously deep
split between Eastern and Western dog genetics, Larson, who was not involved in the latest
study, adds.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718113516.htm
THIS IS MY SUMMARY

By analyzing the DNA of two prehistoric dogs from Germany, an

international research team has determined that their genomes
were the probable ancestors of modern European dogs. The finding
suggests a single domestication event of modern dogs from a
population of gray wolves that occurred between 20,000 and 40,000
years ago.

THANK YOU BART.