The Evolution Of The Dog

FROM WOLF TO WAG: THE EVOLUTION OF THE DOG , THE EVOLUTION OF THE DOMESTICATED DOG Biologists have debated over the history and evolution of the domestic dog for hundreds of years. Most Scientists now agree that dogs are directly descended from Canis Lupus-the Grey Wolf. The origin of the domestic dog began with the domestication of the Grey Wolf. We have never been sure exactly how wolves were tamed by man, but one thing is for sure, the wolf and man definitely had some things in common! WOLF They were MAN They hunted in packs both hunters It is widely believed that man domesticated wolves by feeding them and adopting wolf cubs. The cubs were A semi-tame wolf would have brought a lot of value to a hunter gatherer group, it would have used its hunting senses to aid humans and also guard things for them-almost acting as a warning system. taken into human tribes and raised among people. These wolves were selectively bred for particular traits. Slowly they became more tame and their characteristics reflected the needs of the group of humans that they lived with. THEIR SIZE THEIR COLOURING THEIR SENSES As the number of humans grew, wolf puppies would have been traded and swapped between groups of humans based on the traits that they possessed. These thousands of years of selective breeding have resulted in the artificial "evolution" of dogs into the many different dog breeds that exist today. HOW DIVERSE HAS THEIR EVOLUTION BEEN? We began with a creature A great example that shows just how diverse the evolution of the dog has been is to have a look at the variety in the shapes of their skulls. Years of selective breeding has led to an incredible amount of skull diversity. that had been conditioned to hunt and turned It into a huge variety of creatures. From tiny Chihuahuas to huge Afghan Hounds. The shape of a skull will affect a breeds ability to: SMELL BITE SEE THE 3 DIFFERENT SHAPES OF D OG SKULLS Cranium Cranium Cranium *****...........: Nasal ***.* Nasal Nasal Cavity Cavity Cavity DOCLICHOCEPHALIC MESATICEPHALIC BRACHYCEPHALIC Common in dogs bred to hunt and sniff. This is a flat skull shape. The largest The most common skull shape for dogs. The proportion of nasal cavity The largest proportion of the skull is the nasal cavity, meaning that they have a long snout. part of the skull is the cranium, and the nasal cavity is extremely short. and cranium is fairly equal. SAMPLES OF BREEDS SAMPLES OF BREEDS SAMPLES OF BREEDS +**......................... Collles Greyhounds Beagles Pug A joint venture between the University of Washington and the Veterinary School at UC Davis mapped the variation in the genomes of a mere 10 different breeds of dogs. THEY FOUND Each region contained on At least of these areas contain 11 genes. 155 genes that were uniquely modified in only one or two breeds, suggesting they contain genes that are highly breed-restricted like the skin wrinkling in average About different regions of the dog's genome show evidence of strong So it's harder to identify exactly what about each area was under the most selection, though there were clues. 2/3 artificial selection. the Shar-Pei. HOW HAS THE SELECTIVE BREEDING OF DOGS HELPED THEM TO DEVELOP CERTAIN SKILLS? Most of these breeds came It is thought that there are OVER 4ØØ BREEDS of dog worldwide. All unique in their own way. onto the scene in the past 150 years, encouraged by the Victorian-era's passion for the "dog fancy" - the selective breeding of dogs to enhance particular characteristics. THE 7 GROUPS OF DOG THE GUNDOG THE THE THE THE THE THE UTILITY (SPORTING) HOUND WORKING HERDING TERRIER TOY (NON-SPORTING) GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP • Trained to herd sheep By barking or staring • A diverse • Initially owned by the wealthy • Considered a "luxury item" • With little Bred to work Bred to chase THEY ARE THEY ARE group of dogs • From the alongside hunters a quarry by sight or smell GOOD AT • Hunters • Herding • Pulling • Hunting • Rescuing • Guarding THEY CAN THEY THRIVE Dalmation to the Bulldog • Their features • Locate and THEY HAVE BY at them retrieve game • Incredible • Learning tricks • Playing games THEY ARE purpose Eyesight • Speed • Stamina • The trend cannot be THEY ARE • High energy continues today generalised! • High in Energy • Active • Alert THEY ARE THEY RELY ON • Their sense of GENERALLY • Big • Strong • Have even THEY REQUIRE smell to follow • Lots of exercise prey been used in place of horses! German Shepherds Plt bull Terrlers Chlhuahuas Retrlevers Greyhound Boxers Border Terrlers Engllsh Sheepdogs Poodles Polnters Whlppet Dobermans Pugs Setters Bloodhound Rottwellers HOW DO DOGS EXCEL AT INTERPRETING HUMAN SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATIVE BEHAVIOUR? look at or point to that location in an attempt to help the subject find the hidden object. Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behaviour-even more so Hide a piece of food in an opaque container, and then than our nearest primate relatives. For example, they use human social and communicative behaviour (e.g. a pointing gesture) Human infants find this task Give domestic dogs a to find hidden food. trivially easy from around 14 months of age, as they are just beginning to learn language. crack at it and they show impressive flexibility in solving the same problem. FOR EXAMPLE: The fact that domestic dogs possess certain human like social skills raises the question of their origin. Could it be that similarities between dogs and humans represent a case of convergent cognitive evolution? There are 3 possible explanations: 1 Domestic dogs grow up with Dogs have evolved multiple times Dogs' social skills evolved during the process of domestication during the 10s of thousands of years that our humans and learn from them-the from old world wolves and as ability to read human social behaviour should develop over a dog's lifetime. wolves are social pack hunters they need to read the social behaviour of two species have lived together. their fellow hunters as well as prey. NUMBER 3 IS THE MOST LIKELY... A unique population of foxes has also been experimentally domesticated. During the process of domestication individual foxes were selected for breeding based solely on their tendency to approach humans fearlessly and non-aggressively. When fox kits from this domesticated population were compared with age-matched dog puppies on the basic pointing and gaze following tests, the foxes were as skilled as the dogs in using the human social cues. HOW THE POPULARITY OF CERTAIN BREEDS OF DOG HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS TRENDS: 1915 - 2006 To get a feel for trends over a longer period of time, the AKC analyzed nearly 100 years of registration data and looked at popularity based on group classification, size, grooming requirements and activity levels GROUPS THE GUNDOG THE THE THE THE (SPORTING) TOY WORKING TERRIER HOUND GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP 43% 12% 17% 27% 8% of 1970 registry of starting registry of all time of 1940 registry of 1990 registry registry 30% of 2006 26% of 2006 6% of 2006 registry registry registry Due to the Rottweller being in the top 10 at that time, including several years in the number 2 spot, SIZES SMALL BREEDS MEDIUM-SIZE BREEDS LARGE BREEDS 58% 45% 29% 18% 22% 22% Labrador Retrlever being in the top spot. 1940 2006 1915 1940 2006 2006 GROOMING ACTIVITY Dogs considered to have grooming needs: Dogs that require a high level of activity (lots of exercise): 50% Dalmatlan Alredale Terrler 1960 30% 35% 2006 48% ... 61% ... 1915 2006 1960 2006'S MOST POPULAR DOGS 2012'S MOST POPULAR DOGS Labrador Retrlever I Labrador Retrlever Yorkshire Terrler German Shepherd German Shepherd 3 Beagle 4 Golden Retrlever 4 Golden Retrlever 5 Beagle Yorkshlre Terrler Dachshund English Bulldog Boxer Boxer 8 Poodle 8 Poodle Shlh Tzu Dachshund 10 10 Rottweller MInlature Schnauzer The Beagle has overtaken the beloved Yorkshire Terrler to become the third The Rottweller made news by unseating the Shlh Tzu - which had been in the top 10 since 2000 From this data we can see that the Labrador retrlever has remained in the number one spot, in fact it has been going strong in position number one for 21 years! most popular dog breed in the U.S, alongside the Golden Retrlever who moved into position 4 putting the Yorkshlre Terrler in position 5. Resource list http://classic.akc.org/pdfs/press_center/popular_pooches.pdf http://email.eva.mpg.de/-tomas/pdf/Hare_Tomasello05.pdf http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/2102 http://www.dog-names.org.uk/history-evolution-dogs.htm http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/2011/11/13/observations-evolution-the-curious-case-of-dogs/ http://www.metrosniff.com/content/dog-skull-shapes http://www.dog-names.org.uk/history-evolution-dogs.htm http://www.akc.org/press_center/article.cfm?article_id=4592 (cc BY ND