The first dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago in Central Asia, perhaps near present-day Nepal and Mongolia, suggests a genetic study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A genetic study of village dogs and 161 pure breeds led by Laura Shannon of Cornell University suggests that dogs originated in Central Asia. This illustration shows a Canadian Eskimo Dog, by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).
Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are thought to have evolved from Eurasian gray wolves (C. l. lupus) about 15,000 years ago, but the precise time and location of domestication remain under debate.
Dogs today consist primarily of two groups – a diverse set of nearly 400 pure breeds and a far more populous group of free-ranging animals adapted to a human lifestyle, so-called village dogs.
Village dogs are more genetically diverse and geographically widespread than purebred dogs making them vital for unraveling dog population history.
To uncover hints to the origin of early dogs, Dr Laura Shannon of Cornell University and her colleagues conducted a large-scale survey of autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosome diversity in 4,676 purebred dogs from 161 breeds and 549 village dogs from 38 countries.
The analysis, which revealed higher genetic diversity in village dogs than purebreds, suggests that dogs were likely domesticated in Central Asia, plausibly around modern-day Nepal and Mongolia.
“Dogs in nearby regions – e.g. East Asia, India, and Southwest Asia – contain high levels of genetic diversity due to their proximity to Central Asia and large population sizes,” Dr Shannon and co-authors said.
“Indigenous dog populations in the Neotropics and South Pacific have been largely replaced by European dogs, whereas those in Africa show varying degrees of European vs. indigenous African ancestry.”
“Genetic analysis of village dogs can supplement ancient DNA analysis in efforts aimed at uncovering the precise time and place of dog domestication and evolution,” the scientists concluded.
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Laura M. Shannon et al. Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Central Asian domestication origin. PNAS, published online October 19, 2015; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516215112
