Primal dog

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An original dog is a hypothetical domestic dog that for the first time clearly differed genetically and possibly also phenotypically from its parent form, the wolf . The time of domestication of the wolf is controversial; scientific estimates vary from 100,000 to 13,000 years ago.

Genetic primeval dog

The results of genetic studies show that the domestication of the wolf by humans has taken place several times independently of one another. A study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle came to the conclusion that the dog breeds that exist today can be genetically assigned to four different domestication events.

Even after its first domestication, the house dog is likely to have phenotypically resembled the wolf for a long time, which is why a clear allocation of older fossil finds is not always possible. The oldest fossil evidence for the existence of the domestic dog comes from the Young and Late Paleolithic .

Urhund theories

In the past, a hypothetical dog species that existed alongside the wolf and was the ancestor of our domestic dogs through the primordial races was also referred to in the past as the "primordial dog" ( Canis ferus ) . One of the most famous proponents of this theory is the cynologist Theophil Studer .

The biologist Konrad Lorenz was of the opinion that, in addition to the wolf, the golden jackal also played a role in the domestication of domestic dogs. This theory was particularly popular in the German-speaking world.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ C. Vilà et al .: Multiple and ancient origins of the domestic dog . In: Science . 276 (5319): 1687-9, 1997, PMID 9180076 ( full text (PDF) ).
  2. HG. Parker et al. (2004): Genetic structure of the purebred domestic dog . In: Science 304 (5674): 1160-4, PMID 15155949
  3. Th. Studer: The prehistoric dogs in their relationship to the currently living races. In: Treatises of the Swiss Palaeontological Society. Volume 28, 1901, pp. 1–137, access to the full text (PDF; 11.0 MB)