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AAnswering a time – honored question about man 's best friend, scientists have figured out how wolves have become the dogs we all know and love today. Everyone knows that dogs are related to their wild canine cousins, but the new study explains how the transformation occurred. Namely, he says that wolves became good boys in behavior before they started to look more like domestic dogs than wolves.
According to a study published in the journal open access Biology BMCAs wolves have been domesticated by humans, behavior traits have changed before anything else. Behaviors such as reduced fear of humans and overall sobriety were among the first changes, and changes in physical appearance – such as small jaws and floppy ears – came after.
Jeffery Kidd, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Michigan have identified 178 genes that could be involved in dog domestication, according to the study. The team conducted whole genome badyzes in 43 village dogs and 10 wolves.
The researchers then proved differences between single nucleotides – the basic structural unit of nucleic acids such as DNA – known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genomes of village dogs and wolves which affect the phenotypic characters of dogs and wolves.
"We suggest that the initial selection during early domestication of the dog was for behavior … which secondarily caused the phenotypes of modern dogs," wrote the authors of the study.
The study authors found that behavior traits that were first selected ultimately led to the selection of physical traits of modern dogs. They concluded that primary selection during domestication was probably "targeted", so you can thank our ancestors for teaching wolves to break away from their sifted character even before any other differences between wolves and dogs grow.
Village dogs have been used specifically in this study to eliminate the genetic factors that breeders deliberately influence to achieve certain characteristics in different breeds of dogs – as some colors or brands are more sought after in some breeds, breeders try to. get more from their dogs to have these features.
Using village dogs, the researchers determined that the genetic changes observed in the study are more likely the result of domestication rather than reproduction.
Essentially, dogs became the best friend of man when they still looked a lot like wolves. The physical changes, which led to dogs that look like everything from a great danish to a chihuahua, were secondary. But imagine yourself dragging a domesticated wolf and hug in the day.
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