Guest post by David Middleton
Two of my favorite things are dogs and the Pleistocene…
New Study Results Consistent With Dog Domestication During Ice Age
by Matt McGowan | Feb 19, 2020 | Advancing the Data Revolution, Research NewsAnalysis of Paleolithic-era teeth from a 28,500-year-old fossil site in the Czech Republic provides supporting evidence for two groups of canids – one dog-like and the other wolf-like – with differing diets, which is consistent with the early domestication of dogs.
The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, was co-directed by Peter Ungar, Distinguished Professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas.
The researchers performed dental microwear texture analysis on a sample of fossils from the Předmostí site, which contains both wolf-like and dog-like canids. Canids are simply mammals of the dog family. The researchers identified distinctive microwear patterns for each canid morphotype. Compared to the wolf-like canids, the teeth of the early dog canids – called “protodogs” by the researchers – had larger wear scars, indicating a diet that included hard, brittle foods. The teeth of the wolf-like canids had smaller scars, suggesting they consumed more flesh, likely from mammoth, as shown by previous research.
[…]
Dog domestication is the earliest example of animal husbandry and the only type of domestication that occurred well before the earliest definitive evidence of agriculture. However, there is robust scientific debate about the timing and circumstances of the initial domestication of dogs, with estimates varying between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago, well into the Ice Age, when people had a hunter-gatherer way of life. There is also debate about why wolves were first domesticated to become dogs. From an anthropological perspective, the timing of the domestication process is important for understanding early cognition, behavior and the ecology of early Homo sapiens.
[…]
University of Arkansas
Cool article. I just wish they wouldn’t refer to the last Pleistocene glacial stage as “the Ice Age.”
Dogs are truly amazing creatures. Instead of hunting humans, some wolves (or wolf-like canids) became our friends (family to many of us)… They helped us hunt, protected us and our livestock all in exchange for a few scraps of food and a pat on the head. I have always been convinced that the domestication of dogs and horses enabled humans to dominate this planet.
Just think about it… 40,000 years of evolution did this:
National Geographic produced a great documentary on the natural history of dogs back in 2010: And Man Created Dog. You can watch it on Vimeo.
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Hector, our 4 year old brown and while “Party Breed” Cockapoo, is standing before me with a cool Howdy Doody smile on his face and a blue/purple beard after consuming a dish of grain free dog food mixed with fresh frozen blueberries and 2 huge chunks of fresh ripe Papaya sending powerful subliminal messages to me through non-ending full eye contact and steady wagging tail. — Message received! Time to poop and play! In constant search of happiness and fun.
a word of warning about those “grainfree” dryfoods
theyre linked to cardiomyopathy in dogs , enough so that vets have given warnings
its based on? peaflour and peas and beans and dogs arent a good mix
a dog will eat grain like wheat barley or oats as grain or in the gut of animals it eats
given the grains of peas and beans dried they wouldnt eat them, and any in bird or animal guts would be digested and have useful bacteria included
the rage for these foods at exorbitant prices is a cheap food makers idea of heaven.
Great post David. I agree with your comment “ I have always been convinced that the domestication of dogs and horses enabled humans to dominate this planet.” I even think it may have been dogs who led the domestication.
I reckon the original lure was the smell of cooking meat, hmmm. The young pups would have come into the campsite first.
I read an article recently about the difference between dog “domestication” and cat. The article argued that cats weren’t domesticated. Humans established working relationships with dog ancestors while we were hunter-gatherers. Selective breeding essentially suppressed some of the more adult characteristics and attuned them to see humans as the leader of their pack. The wolf “pack” social structure easily substituted an Alpha human for an Alpha wolf. When agriculture and domesticated livestock arose, dog breeding selected for characteristics that made the dogs advantageous for protection and herding. The dogs had more food and better survival rates with humans than without.
Cats on the other hand, only became associated with humans after the development of agriculture and the concentration of prey animals, i.e. rodents, who were attracted to the quantities of stored grains. The progenitors of domestic cats saw that the hunting was much easier around human communities. Those cats that didn’t attack people, just the pests, did better. From a neolithic farmer perspective, a wild cat that ate mice and rats was a benefit. If some of those cats became tamed, friendly, and didn’t attack the children, they got better treatment. As in some wild cats were fair game for hides, etc., while the friendly ones that killed pests were allowed, and assisted to live.
I was watching a documentary the other day. The species of dog that are most “wolf-like” are difficult to train to meet human needs. Researchers have tried to come up with intelligence tests: if more domesticated dogs can be trained to do what we want, that doesn’t necessarily make them more intelligent.
1. Follow a human pointing to find covered food. Domesticated dogs tend to do this, wolves don’t.
2. Work out that if you pull on one end of a rope, you will just pull it right through two pulleys, and get nothing. If you cooperate, two dogs or one dog one person pulling on the two ends, you pull a platform with food toward you. Both dogs and wolves will do this. Intelligent, but not trying to please humans.
In tests of general intelligence, ie problem solving, wolves put dogs in the shade, with possible exception of freakishly genius Border Collies.
However, in terms of getting by in the real world, dogs, ie wolves who’ve thrown in with humans rather than their conspecific pack mates, far surpass their wild relatives in reproductive success.
Not sure that theory holds. One of the very oldest breeds on the planet is highly intelligent and can be trained to many tasks and is highly domesticated through long association with man. The Samoyed, whose lines have remained more or less pure for many thousands of years, and go back to the earliest domesticated dogs in Siberia.
Just at a year old, this past December 2019 — “Thor” during the early Shepocene:
Let’s not talk about the evolution of teeth. If you know German shepherd pups, then you know what I mean. (^_^)
stunning dog;-)
Great post, David! And a MAJOR shout out to Nicholas McGinley! Your cat diary had laughing so hard I was crying and got sore abs!
Two points concern me though: 1) Doesn’t this mean that all dogs are GMO?
2) Should we allow our best friend and second best ally (ask Genghis Khan
who is greatest animal ally) to be confined in small city apartments with
little contact with Nature and other dogs?
Let’s solve both problems by banning GMO dogs from all major cities and re-introducing wolf parks in major city parks like Golden Gate and Central Park. This would make jogging much more exciting and keep SF and NY free of GMOs! And remember, wolf packs prefer herbivores, like vegans!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testtest
testhttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test
(👎)…
test
test
(👍)…
Sorry about the mess, David (old dog, new trick) It’s just that i hate using the wuwt test page because it has too many comments. (loads too slowly on my device)…
You’ve got to be smarter than the dog to teach it something. I guess that’s why most dogs gave up on their owners and settled to just roll over and ‘shake hands’.
It’s carnival time here in New Orleans. And among the festivities are the mystical krewes of Barkus and Endymeow. Both names being take-offs of the carnival superkrewes of Bacchus & Endymion. Lots of fun for both canines and felines alike (as well as their tag along owners)…
* gonna kringe when i hit post comment (too cerebral for a highschool dropout in a leather jacket)
(aaay… 👍)
Dogs gained a lot from their adaptation to living with humans… but it came with a price!
I have postulate. Not a theory as I can’t think of a suitable hypothesis to test.
Dog’s were domesticated well before settlement and there was waste (every part of the animal is used). Wolf cubs would have been cute but would have hardly have learnt anything from mature wolves about hunting before being adopted by humans. By the the time they were useful hunters, early humans would have had bad experiences with maturing wolves and given up on them.
This recommend documentary says that puppies that didn’t have desirable instincts were done away with. That would be killed, gutted, skinned and roasted.
My postulate is that they were allowed to tag along until they matured. What better form of long life protein than one that carries itself? Early humans might even have looked to steal a cub for this purpose.
Eventually, there were puppies that were sexually active but still immature, and domestication began. Instincts would have made useful hunters after taming but not before, so why tame a wolf?
Baboons kidnap and raise feral dogs as pets
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2lSZPTa3ho&w=560&h=315%5D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2lSZPTa3ho
We’re not the only ones.
Inexhaustible theme:
https://www.google.com/search?q=and+man+ate+dog&oq=and+man+ate+dog&aqs=chrome.
https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-huawei&biw=360&bih=518&sxsrf=ALeKk00FOpR2RmmauL8U8xoyiQDavthTtw%3A1583406821976&ei=5d5gXoeXO6KrmwX5sqTgAg&q=A+Boy+and+his+dog+Harlan+Ellison+dystopian+science+fantasy+movie+&oq=A+Boy+and+his+dog+Harlan+Ellison+dystopian+science+fantasy+movie+&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.