First domestication of dogs

The earliest domestication dogs (Canis familiaris) is thought to have been done by Palaeolithic humans in east Asia, approximately 15,000 years ago, as they successfully bred aggression out of wolves (Canis lupus).

Much of the genetic research by Peter Savolainen (Sweden) of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, found that due to the high genetic diversity of dogs in east Asia, it suggested that these dogs had been domesticated the longest. The domestication of dogs preceeded that of other animals such as sheep, pigs, cattle and horses. The earliest remains of a domesticated dog are believed to be 14,000 years old and were found in Germany.

On 29 October 2020, the journal Science published details of the most comprehensive study to date into the genomes of Eurasian dogs. It confirmed that they had become domesticated around the world well before 11,000 years ago. The research also revealed that dogs often travelled with humans as they spread across the globe.

The study was carried out by three groups, jointly led by Pontus Skoglund, a population geneticist at the Francis Crick Institute in London. Greger Larson, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Oxford, UK, and archaeologist Ron Pinhasi at the University of Vienna. At least five different canine groups were spread out across the world by 11,000 years ago, according to Skoglund.

The research sequenced 27 ancient dog genomes and utilized samples aged between 11,000 and 100 years old; they originated from Europe, Siberia and the Middle East. Research labs were able to trace the movements of ancient canine populations over time and compare them with human migrations.

Sometimes, the two moved in unison. For example, around 10,000 years ago, farmers from the Middle East began to move into Europe, taking their dogs with them; the dogs mixed with the existing European canine populations. Dogs and humans didn’t always move in parallel, however. Some 5,000 years ago, a migration of people into Europe from the Russian and Ukraine steppes resulted in changes to the genetic make-up of humans, but not of dogs. The reasons for this remain unclear.

Elinor Karlsson, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, USA, has noted that “Dogs probably started exploiting humans because they were a useful resource that helped them to survive.”