[Animals] They find the region of Asia where wolves evolved into domestic dogs

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A recent study points to a region of the Asian continent as the probable nucleus of the origin of dogs
The exact origin of the dogs is still unknown. To solve this mystery, researchers have been given the task of looking for clues that can clarify the matter. However, these have given inconclusive results that, apparently, open more questions than they answer. Despite this, today it can be said that dogs, due to their physiological characteristics, come from wolves. Not only that: their coexistence with humans began approximately 15,000 years ago.

The study, recently published in Nature, aimed to continue exploring the gray wolf's past. In this way, they could locate the approximate region in which the origin of the dogs took place. From this, it was also expected to have a broader reference on the history of the domestication of this animal. The publication of this project has 81 authors, including specialists in genetics, archeology and anthropology.

What is known about the domestication of the dog
According to previous research, it can be said that the path of the human, towards a different contact with the wolf, began 15 thousand years ago, although there are estimates that this could have happened a long time ago. The most accepted theory about the domestication of the dog indicates that wolves began to approach human settlements to obtain food scraps.

Over time, these predators passed on genes for more docile traits and behaviors. Faced with this change, the humans found in them good allies for hunting and guarding the camps.

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Central Asia: probable nucleus of the origin of dogs
The study in case was made from 72 genomes of ancient wolves that, together, cover the last 100 thousand years of this species. This was possible thanks to the bones and specimens donated by archaeologists from 18 institutions in 16 countries. To reach the conclusions, the scientists had to compare the genome of the wolves studied with that of modern and ancient dogs.

“THE GOAL WAS TO BUILD A LARGE MAP OF THE WOLF'S ANCESTORS, THE WOLF'S GENETICS, AROUND THE TIME OF DOMESTICATION. THEN WE TAKE THE DOG PUZZLE PIECE AND PUT IT INTO THE BIG PUZZLE AND SEE WHERE IT FITS IN,” SKOGLUND, LEAD AUTHOR OF THE INVESTIGATION, SAID FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES.

The results of this research yielded data of interest that will help guide future work on this line. One, which was key in this project, was reducing the geographic space of the probable origin of the dog. According to this, current dogs come from two main po[CENSORED]tions: one in Europe and the other in Central Asia. The relevance of this discovery was to note that the dogs that are known today come mainly from the second group.

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Domestication, an event of double origin
The latter leads us to suspect that the domestication of the dog could have originated in two places in the world, which would rule out the theory that it occurred only in one po[CENSORED]tion and then spread to other areas. This is not entirely new: Larson, a scientist who has studied this topic before, had mentioned that domestication could have a double origin.

On the other hand, until before this research, it was believed that there was an intermediate species between the dog and the wolf, since the ancestry of the former did not entirely coincide with that of the latter. Now, thanks to the results, it can be said that this is not necessarily true, since the homogenization of the wolf's ancestry could hide previous relationships with dogs.

Important findings for the knowledge of wolves
Part of the findings helped to have a better understanding of wolves. The researchers were able to see that no matter where they came from, these mammals were genetically very similar to each other. This in itself allows for a broader idea of the extent to which the wolves moved and mixed.

This could have been closely related to the fact that wolves managed to survive the last ice age. The authors consider that, in effect, this global and constantly moving po[CENSORED]tion had better resources, thanks to proven behaviors, to survive that period.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/estudio-ayuda-a-conocer-origen-de-los-perros/