EUROPE: Scientists studying the special relationship between humans and canines have made the discovery that cavemen who lived on Earth up to 40,000 years ago may have kept them as pets — or at the very least, guard dogs.
Researchers at the Swedish Museum of Natural History found that an ancient Taimyr wolf bone, found beneath a frozen cliff in Russia, contained genetic information showing that the domestication of dogs likely occurred much earlier than thought.
The discovery of the bone, which was carbon-dated to 35,000 years ago, revealed that the Taimyr wolf represents the most common ancestor of modern dog breeds ranging from spaniels to schnauzers.
Earlier genome-based estimates had suggested that domesticated dogs descended from wolves who were alive no more than 16,000 years ago, after the last ice age.
Dr. Love Dalén, who headed the study, told the journal Current Biology that the new information showed the rate of mutation from wolf to dog was about half what had been previously assumed, meaning that the domestic canine evolved much earlier than other scientists believed.
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