The discovery of the oldest dog DNA ever suggests that they have been our best friends for almost 16,000 years – 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.
A study this Wednesday revealed the Oldest dog DNA ever.
On the sidelines of the study, genomes were sequenced from archaeological remains, shedding light on the elusive origins of our furry friends, who may have emerged as a mix of two types of gray wolves.
The oldest canine DNA in the world was discovered in a skull fragment at Pinarbasi, in what is now Turkey.
The dog, which was perhaps “a few months old”, looked like a small wolf when it lived around 15,800 years ago, the study’s co-author told AFP. Laurent Frantzfrom the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
The oldest known dog DNA was, until then, from 10,900 years ago.
Frantz said scientists could not prove exactly what role these dogs played among humans who lived during the last Ice Age. “However, we can assume they must have played a role because they would have been expensive to feed”, these.
Perhaps dogs were used for hunt or to protectionhe speculated.
Even though these dogs were not treated in the same way as today’s pets, there was probably a strong bondsaid the scientist, adding that “children would still have played with dogs”.
Another sign of a close relationship was the fact that puppies were found buried above human graves in Pinarbasi.
