Overview
- The twin Nature papers, published Wednesday, identify genomes from a 15,800-year-old dog in Turkey and ~14,300–14,200-year-old dogs in Britain and Switzerland, extending the earliest genetic evidence beyond the previous 10,900-year mark.
- Researchers sequenced DNA from more than 200 dog-and-wolf family remains across Europe and nearby regions to reconstruct early dog lineages and their movements.
- An Anatolian dog and a British dog separated by about 3,000 kilometers are closely related, which points to rapid long-range spread and active exchange of dogs among hunter-gatherer groups.
- Dogs tied to Europe’s first farmers kept much of their ancestry from older hunter-gatherer dogs, so new arrivals did not fully replace local dog populations.
- The precise wolf source remains unknown, with signals linking early European dogs to Asian lineages and with scientists now seeking older Ice Age samples to pinpoint where and when domestication began.