Wolfmother How Dogs Came to Look the Way They Do

TOY ANCIENT & SPITZ SPANIELS SHIH TZU ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL GERMAN SHORTHAIRED POINTER BASSET HOUND BEAGLE BLOODHOUND PBGV DACHSHUND HAVANESE BASSET HOUND SHAR-PEI STANDARD POODLE TOY POODLE DOBERMAN PINSCHER GIANT SCHNAUZER STANDARD POODLE STANDARD SCHNAUZER GERMAN SHEPHERD PORTUGUESE WATER DOG WOLVES BOSTON TERRIER 30,000 to 15,000 years ago BOXER BULLDOG FRENCH BULLDOG BULLDOG MINIATURE BULL TERRIER O to 200 years ago STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER GLEN OF IMAAL TERRIER BULL MASTIFF SCOTTISH TERRIER MASTIFF JACK RUSSELL TERRIER BRIARD AUSTRALIAN TERRIER INFOPORN YORKSHIRE TERRIER NEW- FOUND- LAND CAIRN TERRIER WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER SAINT BERNARD 200 to 20 years ago IRISH WOLFHOUND PEMBROKE CORGI SIGHT HOUNDS RETRIEVERS MOUNTAIN HERDING PUGGLE DAMERANIAN CHIWEENIE DESIGNER BREEDS CHIWEENIE 20 years ago to present Wolfmother How dogs came to look the way they do. Dogs come in more than 160 breeds (by the American Kennel Club's count), not to mention innumerable mutt varieties. But to a genet- icist, they're all Canis lupus familiaris, the offspring of gray wolves that learned 30,000 years ago to cuddle up to us big naked mon- keys. Today's domestic dog varies in size more than any other terrestrial vertebrate, but as researchers have recently discovered, all its familiar forms can be accounted for by just a few simple genes. Here's why dogs don't all look like wolves. -RACHEL SWABY O 20 YEARS AGO TO PRESENT O 30,000 TO 15,000 YEARS AGO Gray wolves ditch their O 15,000 TO 200 YEARS AGO With the advent of agriculture, protodogs move in closer. A 200 TO 20 YEARS AGO Selective breeding begins in earnest. Signature character- istics appear, including the bulldog's flat face and the Pomeranian's fluffy coat. And while the poodle ends up with Designer dogs bred for looks, personality, or coat are on the rise. But crosses like the Lab- radoodle (Labrador retriever plus poodle) and puggle (pug plus beagle) don't pro- duce offspring with consistent traits-and they don't have the packs to hang with humans (and our tasty discarded bones and scraps). Those camp mutation that causes bones to stay short appears-the origin of corgis, basset hounds, and other stumpy-legged breeds. Terrier-sized dogs show up 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, all followers mate less and less with the territorial kind. three gene variants-for long Result: wolves that don't look hair, curls, and a mustache-the quite like wolves, based on skeletal remains found in Belgium. historicity that purists value in the classic competition breeds. with identical variations on the beagle retains short, straight 15th chromosome. hair like wolves. ILLUSTRATION BY Always With Honor AFGHAN HOUND SHAR-PEI DINGO ASKAN MALAMUTE PUG PAPILLON MINIATURE PINSCHER AMERICAN COCKER SPANIEL ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL IRISH WATER SPANIEL NVINYNAUG PEKINGESE SHIH TZU CHIHUAHUA CHOW CHOW AKITA AMERICAN ESKIMO SAMOYED SALUKI BRUSSELS GRIFFON BERIAN HUSKY KUVASZ IBIZAN HOUND ENGLISH COCKER SPANIEL BASENJI BRITTANY SPANIEL SCENT HOUNDS WORKING MASTIFF-LIKE SMALL TERRIERS NORWICH TERRIER SCOTTISH TERRIER BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG SAINT BERNARD GREAT DANE ROTTWEILER FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER GOLDEN RETRIEVER LABRADOR I ITALIAN GREYHOUND WHIPPET COLLIE SHETLAND SHEEPDOG BORDER COLLIE PEMBROKE CORGI OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG OR RETRIEVER IRISH W CARDIGAN CORGI GOLLIE SCOTTISH DEERHOUND BORZOI GREYHOUND BA-SHAR I WOLFHOUND PHERD LABRADOODLE SAINT DANE