Overview
- Two linked Nature studies published Wednesday identify a 15,800-year-old dog from Pınarbaşı in Türkiye as the earliest genetically confirmed canine.
- Genomes from sites including Kesslerloch in Switzerland and Gough’s Cave in England show a widespread, genetically similar dog population across Western Eurasia by about 14,300 years ago.
- Researchers used hybridisation capture to recover DNA from 216 ancient canid remains and confidently classified 141 as dogs or wolves, correcting some earlier morphology-based misidentifications.
- Archaeology and isotope testing reveal Ice Age people buried dogs with humans and fed them similar diets, including fish at Pınarbaşı, signaling close bonds in hunter-gatherer groups.
- Genetic models show hunter-gatherer dogs contributed substantially to Neolithic and modern European lineages, and early European dogs did not arise from independent domestication of European wolves.