Study: Dogs Were Domesticated More Than 33,000 Years Ago

While it will not sit well with those creationists who reject evolution and believe the Earth is only a few thousand years old, a new study may interest the rest of mankind. The study at the Royal Institute of Technology in Solna, Sweden from that the relationship between man and dog goes back more than 33,000 years ago and appears to have originated in south east Asia. The study shows domestication much earlier than the prior estimate of 10,000 years.

Domesticated dogs migrated from Asia to Europe. Professor Peter Savolainen and colleagues sequenced the genomes of 58 members of the dog family including grey wolves, indigenous dogs from south-east and north-east Asia, village dogs from Nigeria, and a collection of other breeds including the Afghan Hound and Siberian Husky. The greater diversity found in Asia dogs and close overlap with grey wolves confirmed the earlier domestication in Asia. That would put the critical domestication period during the last glacial period, with a peak between 26,500 and 19,000 years ago.

I will now look at my dog Luna with a great deal more respect, though her ancient hunting skills have been reduced to hearing any food hit the kitchen floor.

Here is the study: Cell Research Study

Source: Discovery