Overview
- Two peer-reviewed Nature studies, published Wednesday, report the oldest genetically confirmed dogs dating to roughly 14,000–15,800 years ago.
- A female puppy from Pınarbaşı in Türkiye is dated to about 15,800 years ago, while dogs from Gough’s Cave in the UK and Kesslerloch in Switzerland are about 14,300 and 14,200 years old.
- Researchers screened DNA from 216 ancient canid remains using hybridisation-capture, a method that fishes scarce dog DNA out of microbe-heavy samples to reliably separate dogs from wolves.
- Genomes show dogs were widespread across western Eurasia by at least 14,200–14,300 years ago with burials and matching diets indicating close ties with hunter-gatherers.
- Analyses argue against a separate European domestication and show pre-agricultural European dogs fed into later and many modern European lineages, though the precise origin remains unresolved.