Humans and dogs have shared a loyal bond since the beginning of domestication, but the specific “when, where and why” of their evolution from gray wolves has long been a mystery.
However, new genetic research provides groundbreaking clarity, most notably identifying the oldest dog ever recorded.
According to researchers, this dog lived about 15,800 years ago and their remains were discovered in the Pinarbasi rock shelter in Turkey, a place once frequented by ancient hunter-gatherers.
This discovery is important because it pushes back the timeline of genetically confirmed domestication by about 5,000 years compared to previous finds.
The researchers in a new study published in the journal Nature, also identified that the Pinarbasi dogs and several others were an integral part of human culture even before the advent of agriculture.
According to William Marsh, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London, and co-author, the recent genetic evidence showed that dogs were not only genetically distinct from wolves, but were also present in western Eurasia 18,000 years ago.
“We probably predict that dog and wolf populations diverged much earlier, probably before the last glacial maximum (of the Ice Age), so before 24,000 years ago. Even though we say that, there is still a large degree of uncertainty,” Marsh said.
Always present company
The study also found that the dogs were also exchanged between different human groups, demonstrating their significance in early human communities.
“Dogs were by our side as humans underwent major lifestyle changes and complex societies emerged,” said geneticist Anders Bergström of the University of East Anglia in England, lead author of the other study.
According to Bergström, dogs have undoubtedly remained important to human communities. But that doesn’t mean they always have very clearly defined roles or purposes for people.
“Perhaps their primary role is often just to provide companionship,” Bergström added.
In addition to companionship, ancient dogs were also useful to early humans by helping them hunt. They also served as watchdogs, like ice age alarm systems, as reported by the researchers.
Bergström and his team conducted the study with the aim of identifying early dogs of Europe by using a new technique to distinguish between wolves and dogs.
They collected 216 ancient remains ranging from 46,000 to 2,000 years old from the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Turkey. This was the largest study of such remains to date. Consequently, the team identified 46 dogs and 95 wolves.
