New Clues on How and When Wolves Became Dogs
By cracking dog and wolf genomes worldwide, scientists have revealed man's best friend was first domesticated in Southeast Asia.
Fido may have been a rescue from the Humane Society, but his ultimate origins are wolves.
That much scientists have known for a long time.
But the details of how wolves became some of our furry companions remain shrouded in mystery. (See dog-evolution pictures.)
Sometime between 10,000 and 32,000 years ago, humans began domesticating wolves, possibly somewhere in Southeast Asia, according to research on mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring.
Other studies that look at additional genetic markers, such as tiny snippets of DNA from across the genome, have pointed to Europe or the Middle East as the likely origin of dog domestication. (See "Dog and Human Genomes Evolved Together.")
To solve this conundrum, an international team of
