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THE CANINE EVES: THE MOTHERS OF THE FIRST DOG
The Eves of the dog world are five or six wolf females that lived in or near China nearly 15,000 years ago, according to a series of genetic research.

The findings indicated that most dogs had "a common origin in a single gene pool." Genetic diversity was highest in East Asia, suggesting that dogs have been domesticated there the longest.

THE OLDEST BREEDS
The results revealed that an unexpected and geographically diverse cluster of breeds-including the Siberian husky, the Afghan hound, Africa's basenji, China's chow chow, Japan's Akita, and Egypt's Saluki are most closely related to dog's ancient wolflike ancestors.   "Dogs from these breeds may be the best living representatives of the ancestral dog gene pool," the researchers wrote.

When the geneticists clustered the breeds whose genes showed shared lineages, they found that the more-ancient breeds:

These old breeds had the closest genetic relationship to the wolf ancestors. The 14 ancient dog breeds with "genetic fingerprints" said to be similar to those of wolves are:

The study did have some surprises, especially the suggestion that three breeds -- the Norwegian Elkhound, Pharaoh Hound and Ibizan Hound -- are not as old as typically stated, but rather are more recent recreations of old types. Also, six pairs of breeds are closely related:

Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky,
Belgian Sheepdog and Belgian Turvuren,
Collie and Shetland Sheepdog,
Greyhound and Whippet,
Bernese Mountain Dog and Greater Swiss Mountain Dog,
Bullmastiff and Mastiff.

OTHER breeds in the study, in their specific grouping, adapted from the explanations of the four groups.

The 10 progenitors identified by the researchers are: sight hounds, scent hounds, working and guard dogs, northern breeds, flushing spaniels, water spaniels and retrievers, pointers, terriers, herding dogs and toy and companion dogs.

The sight hound, specialized for coursing game, is thought to have emerged in Mesopotamia around 4000 to 5000 BC. Modern breeds such as the greyhound and Afghan hound are found at the end of this branch of the canine family tree.

The scent hound meanwhile appeared around 3000 BC, characterized by a highly sensitized sense of smell and a body suited to warm weather. The bloodhound, foxhound, and dachshund are all thought to have descended from this dog.

Working and guard dogs probably emerged in Tibet around 3000 BC, with modern descendents including the rottweiler, all Mastiffs, the Great Dane, the St Bernard's and the bulldog. At roughly the same time, toy and companion breeds apparently emerged in Malta. Modern descendents include the poodle and pug.

In 1997, a biology professor startled the dog world by announcing that their genetic research suggested dogs were first domesticated as early as 100,000 years ago.   They also confirmed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that dogs are descended only from wolves, not jackals or coyotes as some had surmised.

THE JOURNEY FROM WOLF TO DOG

Today, it is generally accepted that dogs are the descendants of Eurasian grey wolves, and there is evidence that they may have originated in east Asia.

The dog may be a very young species at only 14 000 years old, although genetic evidence suggests dog may have began to diverge from the wolf as long as 135 000 years ago.

However, even though dogs are the recent descendants of wolves and are very similar to wolves in terms of both behavior and morphology, they are in several ways quite different from wolves. Dogs display a large number of characters not seen in wolves, such as piebald coats, floppy ears, and curly tails.

Wolves are also seasonal breeders, with both males and females becoming fertile once per year. Dogs are not seasonal breeders, and most female dogs (with some rare exceptions) come into season twice per year, and male dogs are fertile year round.

Dogs also have smaller skulls relative to their overall size than wolves and are able to form social bonds for a longer period of time during their early lives than are wolves.

Interestingly, many of the morphological and physiological differences that exist between dogs and wolves may not have been intentionally selected for by humans, and could have been a result of selection for tameness in dogs.

It has already been noted that selecting animals for a behavioral trait can change the amount of hormones and neurotransmitters produced by the animals because an animal's behavior is often controlled by such chemicals. 

The early development of an animal is also, in part, controlled by these chemicals, so a small change in the animal's endocrine and neurochemical systems may result in changes to the early development of the animal. In wolves, this window closes at about three weeks, and it dogs it closes at 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the breed.

Many researchers consider dogs to be paedomorphic wolves, meaning that they have retained characteristics that are typical of juvenile wolves as adults.

FLOPPY EARS

The floppy ears that characterize most dog breeds may be paedomorphic trait, as very young wolf pups have floppy ears, which straighten shortly after birth. Even the erect-eared dogs, such as huskies and German shepherds, have ears which straighten up later than do the ears of wolf pups.

THE CURLY TAIL

The curled tail of most domestic dogs is also a neotenous trait. Adult wolves typically have straight tails that are carried at a downward-pointing angle, whereas wolf pups, like many adult domestic dogs, have tails that are carried up above the back

THE BARK

The bark of domestic dogs is another juvenile trait. Adult wolves can and do bark as an alarm call, but they rarely do. However, wolf pups bark more often than adult wolves, which makes them similar to many domestic dogs.

THE SKULL

Adult dogs also have skull characteristics that make them rather similar to four-month-old wolf pups. When a dog reaches four months of age, its head's growth rate slows down relative to the growth rate of the rest of its body. A four month old wolf's head will continue to grow at a more rapid rate relative to a dog's until it is about seven or eight months old. The result is that adult wolf-sized dogs have head sizes that are similar to that of a juvenile wolf's.

Much of the diversity found in the domestic dog may be a result of a selection for tameness around people. The farm fox experiment started by Dr. Belyaev decades ago has demonstrated that selecting animals for a behavioral trait (such as a lack of fear of novel stimuli) effectively selects for animals with lower levels of adrenal hormones and higher levels of certain neurotransmitters (such as serotonin).  Since these chemicals play a part in regulating the early development of an animal, selecting an animal for a behavioral trait could alter its development and thus its morphology.

ARTIFICIAL SELECTION vs. NATURAL SELECTION

Although it is often assumed that the dog is a result of artificial selection, it is possible that early dogs evolved via natural selection. As humans began to form permanent settlements, a new niche was opened for animals to exploit. They could steal and scavenge scraps from villages. To live in such a niche, an animal would have to be unafraid of people.

Thus, wild dogs living in this niche would be selected for tameness around people. This would alter the animals' morphology because, as stated above, selection for a behavioral trait selects for changes in hormones that regulate the development of the animal. These naturally tame "proto-dogs" could be the ancestor's of today's modern dog breeds.

HOW WOLVES DO IT
Wolves walk, trot, lope, or gallop. Their legs are long, and they walk at about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) per hour, but can reach speeds of 35 m.p.h. during a chase.

Their usual mode of travel is to trot, which they do at various speeds, generally between 8 to 10 miles (12.8 to 16 kilometers) per hour.

Wolves can keep up this pace for hours on end and have been known to cover 60 miles (96 kilometers) in a single night. They have been clocked at speeds of over 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour for a distance of several miles

.

SMELL
The sense of smell in the wolf is highly developed, as would be expected in an animal possessing numerous scent glands. The distance at which any scent can be detected is governed by atmospheric conditions but, even under the most favorable conditions 1.75 miles denotes a particularly keen sense of smell.

The wolves usually travel until they encounter the scent of some prey species ahead of them. They then move directly toward their prey in an effort to capture it.

HEARING
Next to smell, the sense of hearing is the most acute of the wolf's senses. Wolves can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles in the open.

Wolves can hear well up to a frequency of 25 kHz. Some researchers believe that the actual maximum frequency detected by wolves is actually much higher, perhaps up to 80 kHz (the upper auditory limits for humans is 20 kHz), also according to some naturalist wolves' hearing is greater than that of the dog.

SIGHT
Wolves also have keen eye sight and are quick to detect the slightest movement of anything in front of them. Being major predators, their eyes are on the front of there heads, and they have probably a little less than 180-degree vision, unlike their prey species, which can see over 300 degrees of a circle.

TASTE
Investigation of taste are made difficult by the fact that the influence of smell often plays a major role in the way a food "tastes." It is known that canines possess taste receptors for the four taste categories: salty, bitter, sweet, and acidic.

Felines on the other hand, do not respond to sweetness. The sweetness receptivity would be adaptive use to wolves, as sweet berries and other fruits do play a minor role in their diet.

THE WOLF PACK

Few mammals anywhere are aware - and as loyal to - their group as the wolf.  Unlike coyotes and foxes, the wolf usually exists for its pack.

The rare exception is the proverbial "lone wolf" - the runt, the outsider, ostracized from the pack. If it is very lucky and finds a mate, and if there is enough territory available for them, they might be able to start a new pack of their own.

For most wolves, however, their identity begins and ends as part of a cohesive, eight to fifteen-member pack. The hierarchy of the pack is known to all and reinforced by favors, rituals, nips, and fights.

Each pack has a leading, dominate pair, The top male, called the alpha male, who submits to no one and to whom all the other males defer. Likewise, a top alpha female, to whom all other females must submit (The subservient members are usually direct descendants of the Alpha parents).

Contrary to popular belief, a female can lead the pack, in one study of 5 packs almost 50% were lead by a female wolf.

Next in rank to the alphas are the beta male and beta female. For each gender, every wolf has a rank or place in line where they must submit to anyone higher than they are, but can bully or dominate the wolves lower in rank. 

At the bottom there is an omega male and omega female. These wolves have no one under them and may be harassed to the point where they disperse or are killed, or are forced to leave the pack.

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Did You Know...
Wolves do not look to humans for help but dogs do.