A dog among Russian military armored vehicles set on fire in Bucha, in 2022, during the Ukraine war
A new study compared dogs from the eastern front of the Ukrainian War with those from western areas considered safer. Military pressure seems to be acting as a biological filter.
The war between Russia and Ukraine is leaving a deep mark far beyond the military front.
One recently published in the magazine Evolutionary Applications alert to the fact that the natural selection of stray dogs in Ukraine is changing as a direct consequence of the conflict, with possible implications even in its DNA.
The study, led by researchers from Lviv University together with scientific teams from Poland and Austria, analyzed 763 specimens distributed across three large areas of the country: areas close to the eastern front, central territories considered at risk and relatively safer western regions.
The results show that the dogs that live close to fighting present bodies smaller, longer snouts and pricked ears. These characteristics, defined as wild-type traitshave similarities with those of their wolf ancestorsand appear to offer adaptive advantages in environments marked by explosions, abandonment and scarcity.
On the contrary, the attributes associated with human selective breedingsuch as a flat snout or droopy ears, rarely appear in areas most affected by war. In a context where survival is a priority, biological functionality overrides aesthetics resulting from domestication.
One of the determining factors is the chronic lack of food. The disruption to everyday life has reduced stable food sources, which translates into smaller body size and lower body mass index in the front specimens. This situation reflects an accelerated natural selection process.
The study also found that there are very few elderly dogs or seriously ill in combat zones. About 12% of the animals examined showed visible injuries, such as amputations, loss of an eye, open wounds or scars, and some even suffered bullet impacts, notes the .
During fieldwork, researchers observed three cases of dogs feed on human corpses in open areas near the front.
It was about specimens of the Laika typewith body proportions similar to those of the wolf, which avoided contact with people and exhibited aggressive behavior, which made it impossible to collect samples.
The authors emphasize that, although the conflict only covers a few canine generations, war acts as an agent of intense and rapid selection.
It is not yet possible to determine whether these changes will be consolidated in the DNA over time, but the phenomenon confirms that armed conflicts also transform ecosystems and evolutionary dynamics.
