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Topic: The evolution of canine domestication

1. Ostrander, Elaine A., and Wayne, Robert K. 2005. The canine genome. Genome Research, 15, 12.

Using mitochondrial DNA studies, this article examines the origin of domestic dogs from the ancestry of other canines such as grey wolves. It is proposed that domestic canines originated 40-135 thousand years ago, a much older date than what had previously been explained by archaeological studies. It goes on to analyze the genome and relationships of several different dog breeds.

2. Trut, L., Oskina, I., & Kharlamova, A. 2009. Animal evolution during domestication: the domesticated fox as a model. BioEssays, 31, 3, 349-360.

This study examines domestication in general, reviewing both the extremely wide variation that is seen in domesticated animals and the phenotypic changes that are seen. Using wild silver foxes, researchers were able to produce desired domestication traits through careful selection of parents from the most tame offspring.

3. Ramirez, O., Olalde, I., Berglund, J., Lorente-Galdos, B., Hernandez-Rodriguez, J., Quilez, J., Webster, M. T., Wayne, R. K., Lalueza-Fox, C., Vilà, C., Marques-Bonet, T. 2014. Analysis of structural diversity in wolf-like canids reveals post-domestication variants. BMC Genomics, 15.

By comparing copy number variant regions in the genomes of dogs, wolves, and other canines, this study attempted to evaluate which CNVs occurred after domestication. They discovered within the regions that were most differentiated between dogs and wild canines, 9 genes that are known to be related to traits of domestication.

4. Wayne, R. K., & VonHoldt, B. M. 2012. Evolutionary genomics of dog domestication. Mammalian Genome, 23, 1-2.

This study proposes that there are two main mechanisms of evolution in domesticated dogs. The first is the transfer of mutations across various dog breeds. The second is the selective breeding of dogs by humans to enhance phenotypic characteristics.

5. Vonholdt, B. M., Pollinger, J. P., Lohmueller, K. E., Han, E., Parker, H. G., Quignon, P., Degenhardt, J. D., Boyko, A.R., Earl, D.A., Auton, A., Reynolds, A., Bryc, K., Brisbin, A., Knowels, J.C., Mosher, D.S., Spady, T.C., Elkahloun, A., Geffen, E., Pilot, M., Jedrzejewski, W., Greco, C., Randi, E., Bannasch, D., Wilton, A., Shearman, J., Musiani, M., Cargill, M., Jones, P.G., Qian, Z., Huang, W., Ding, Z.L., Zuang, Y.P., Bustamante, C.D., Ostrander, E.A., Novembre, J. Wayne, R. K. 2010. Genome-wide SNP and haplotype analyses reveal a rich history underlying dog domestication. Nature, 464,7290, 898-902.

After examining thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms in dogs and grey wolves, this study suggests that domesticated dogs more likely derived from grey wolves of the Middle East, rather than east Asia, which was proposed by mitochondrial DNA studies.

Improvements to 'DNA' section on Origin of the domestic dog

1. Many other studies since Vilà's in 1997 have disproven any theories besides that dogs evolved from the grey wolf.

2. It should be noted that arguably the biggest reason for the difference between the date that archaeology and mtDNA each estimate for the origin of dogs is that fossils of the earliest domesticated canines so closely resembled grey wolves.

3. Another point worth noting is the possibility that after dogs were domesticated, they mated with wild wolves, potentially leading to another origination event.

Addition to Domestication The first animal to be domesticated appears to have been the dog, anywhere from 40 to 135 thousand years ago.