title: Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography.
abstract: The dog was the first domesticated animal but it remains uncertain when the domestication process began and whether it occurred just once or multiple times across the Northern Hemisphere. To ascertain the value of modern genetic data to elucidate the origins of dog domestication, we analyzed 49,024 autosomal SNPs in 1,375 dogs (representing 35 breeds) and 19 wolves. After combining our data with previously published data, we contrasted the genetic signatures of 121 breeds with a worldwide archeological assessment of the earliest dog remains. Correlating the earliest archeological dogs with the geographic locations of 14 so-called "ancient" breeds (defined by their genetic differentiation) resulted in a counterintuitive pattern. First, none of the ancient breeds derive from regions where the oldest archeological remains have been found. Second, three of the ancient breeds (Basenjis, Dingoes, and New Guinea Singing Dogs) come from regions outside the natural range of Canis lupus (the dog's wild ancestor) and where dogs were introduced more than 10,000 y after domestication. These results demonstrate that the unifying characteristic among all genetically distinct so-called ancient breeds is a lack of recent admixture with other breeds likely facilitated by geographic and cultural isolation. Furthermore, these genetically distinct ancient breeds only appear so because of their relative isolation, suggesting that studies of modern breeds have yet to shed light on dog origins. We conclude by assessing the limitations of past studies and how next-generation sequencing of modern and ancient individuals may unravel the history of dog domestication.
authors.affiliation: Durham Evolution and Ancient DNA, Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom. greger.larson@durham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Greger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Elinor K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Simon Y W
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Frode
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lingaas
authors.forename: Merete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fredholm
authors.forename: Kenine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Comstock
authors.forename: Jaime F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Modiano
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schelling
authors.forename: Alexander I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Agoulnik
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Leegwater
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dobney
authors.forename: Jean-Denis
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Vigne
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vilà
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lindblad-Toh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics*; D001106:Archaeology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003710:Demography; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D058974:Phylogeography; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity