How Did The Domestication Of The Dog Occur During Prehistory?
The dog is man’s best friend, but it hasn’t always been. At some point in prehistory, humans and wild wolves formed a bond that would strengthen for thousands of years.
This phenomenon is the domestication of the dog which has involved its progressive evolution from the wild primitive ferocious wolves to all the breeds of canines that we know today.
The scientific community has tried to find out how, when and where this process first occurred, proposing several theories based on genetic findings from different fossils and modern breeds. Let’s see it below.
The domestication of the dog was a gradual process, of which the scientific community has not yet clarified where, when and how it occurred. What is known is that the modern Canis lupus familiaris is a species descended from an ancient wolf, as is the case with gray wolves. At some point in evolutionary history, those wolves and humanity’s best friends split apart, establishing themselves as two different species. This event had to occur between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Scientists have tried to find out How could an animal as dangerous and ferocious as the wolf, at some point in its existence, end up being such a friendly species? which can be found in many homes. Many genetic studies have been done throughout the globe, analyzing modern breeds and bone remains that have been found in Asia and Europe to establish when the domestication of the dog occurred.
The problem is that the matter has not been clarified. The dates proposed by the scientific community vary greatly, and the fact that it is not clear whether it was in Asia, Europe or somewhere in between does not help. It has been agreed that the first domesticated wolves must have lived between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Did it happen several times over the years?
One of the most shocking recent discoveries has been that attempts were made to domesticate the dog on more than one occasion. Several scientists have analyzed the mitochondrial DNA of 59 remains of different dogs that lived in Europe, ranging in age from 3,000 years (times close to Ancient Rome) to 14,000 years. In addition, it was possible to analyze the entire genome of a dog that lived 4,800 years ago and was buried near a prehistoric monument in Ireland.
The genome obtained from these dogs has been compared with that of modern breeds of their congeners and with wolves, suggesting that dogs were domesticated in Asia about 14,000 years ago. Their lineages split in two, in the period that would go from 14,000 years to 6,400 years ago, forming large populations: one in the Far East and the other Eurasian.
But, despite this, other fossils older than those have been found in Europe. This discovery had given rise to positions, such as that of Thalmann’s group, that dogs emerged in Europe and spread from there. However, others have found that this branch, which was supposed to have been the first dogs in history, ended up becoming extinct at some point, being replaced by Eurasian breeds.
From these findings it can be extracted that, in reality, The research that had assured that dogs had emerged in Europe or Asia was certainly right That is to say, it is not that current dogs descend from all of these primitive populations, but it is true that the domestication of the dog occurred in various places at different times in history.
Furthermore, this allows us to have a more open mind, since it allows us to accept the idea that there were more than two domestications, fighting against somewhat recalcitrant positions that had been established in the scientific community regarding this matter, especially among European experts.
How did they become our best friends?
The questions of when and where dogs were domesticated have not yet been fully answered, but a third question still remains: how did prehistoric man manage to domesticate the big bad wolf?
One of the theories considered is that of helplessness A badly injured wolf was found by some prehistoric human who, instead of killing it, took care of it. The wolf, grateful for the treatment, began to be more tame, accepting the food from his new friend and, soon, he began to have a more protective and friendly attitude towards humans, a behavior that must have been transferred to other conspecifics. But this explanation is too simplistic and does not have much scientific support.
Another theory maintains that prehistoric humans managed to capture baby wolves, kept them as pets, and gradually domesticated them This event could have occurred around the time of the rise of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago. The oldest fossils of what appear to be dogs date back to 14,000 years, but nearly twice as old fossils have also been found of, apparently, something resembling a dog or something that must no longer have been a primeval wolf.
Thanks to more recent genetic research, it has been suggested that the date of dog domestication must have occurred earlier, giving support to a new theory. It should not have happened because a wounded wolf became tame, nor because babies were kidnapped.
The most plausible explanation is that early wolves, as with any other species, showed personality differences, with some being more friendly and others more aggressive. The friendlier ones got closer to humans, without harming them, which must have awakened a less defensive attitude on the part of the prehistoric people
Seeing that the beasts were beneficial for their protection, especially for predators of fields and crops, humans, little by little, accepted the company of wolves and, eventually, domesticated them.
This domestication involved changes in appearance, making them more “adorable.”, in the opinion of Brian Hare, one of the scientific experts on the subject. Wolves began to develop characteristics that were more pleasant to humans, characteristics that must have occurred after a very few generations, such as droopy ears, more fur on the chest, curly tails and the feeling that they smile when they are breathing through their mouths.
But it is not only the physical that changed over the generations. The wolves’ own behavior became increasingly geared toward satisfying humans They became even more pleasant, focusing their attention on their new owners and acquiring a behavior very oriented towards providing protection to humans.
Genetic evidence for the theory
A study carried out by evolutionist Bridgett M. vonHoldt of Princeton University offered genetic evidence supporting this theory. Dogs, compared to wolves, show higher levels of motivation when seeking interactions with humans This would demonstrate that there is a genetic tendency, shaped by the passage of thousands of years, to promote beneficial behavior towards the human species.
Von Holdt saw that there are regions in the genome of dogs and wolves that are shared, only modifications occur in dogs. These modifications in the but regions of the human genome cause Williams-Beuren syndrome, a condition in which the person is extremely trusting and very friendly.
How much have these animals changed?
Although the exact origins of how the long-lasting relationship between humans and dogs was formed, they do It has been discovered how each species has been changing The differences between dogs, such as pugs, dachshunds or poodles, are very obvious compared to wolves. But, in addition to this, and as we were already commenting, there are personality differences and, what is most striking, their bond with human beings and their hormonal response.
Research has discovered that the bond that has been fostered between dogs and humans, learning to work with humans, has harmed teamwork between dogs. Their lifestyle and pack mentality has been reduced compared to wolves, even taking wild dogs. However, they appear to have developed the ability to solve problems by asking their human owners for help.
An example of this is the experimentation on problem solving between dogs and wolves For example, if a problem is given to solve, such as opening a box using a puzzle, dogs and wolves respond differently. Wolves will, as a rule, try to obtain the solution through trial and error. On the other hand, dogs first stare at what they have to solve and then turn around looking into their owner’s eyes, as if asking for help. This is a very interesting interspecific social behavior that can hardly be observed in other species.
And speaking of looking into the eyes. It has been seen that the brains of dogs and humans are synchronized. If a dog and its human owner look into each other’s eyes, both of their brains begin to secrete oxytocin, a hormone linked to maternal love and trust. Oxytocin is not unique to dogs and humans since it is found in other species and has a very important function establishing links between the mother and her offspring or with peers, but the case of dogs with humans is something that has not been found in other species.
Of course, the way, time and place in which the first human-dog bond was established has been of great importance in the history of the evolution of humanity A life without dogs is unthinkable, something that could well have happened if his great-great-grandparents (to save us millions of “great-great-grandfathers”) had not had the brilliant idea of approaching a group of hunter-gatherers. What would life be like without dogs? Of course, let’s thank the capriciousness of evolution that they made them this way.
