By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: September 7, 2009
This article offers a very surprising revelation about the origins and domestications of the dog. I’m a little surprised that this kind of discovery hadn’t been thoroughly exhausted years ago, but I suspect that it was simply due to the lack of genetic research techniques that humans possess today.
The article focuses on the theory that all dogs originate from a single domestication event of the wolf, in China, around 11,000 years ago. If this theory holds to be true, then the archeological finds of dog bones, with knife-cut marks, found in China could mean that the first wolves to be domesticated into dogs; were done so primarily for food.
It is not as surprising a notion as one might think. In China, Korea, and Vietnam dog is still served as a food even to this day.
Try envisioning this for example. Cute, but not really why you might get a dog. What has given researchers a reason to suspect that dogs share a common origin point in time is a sample of mitochondrial DNA found to be shared by 80% of the dogs that were tested. The percentage of test results increased the further east that the dogs were tested. China holds the greatest population of genetically diverse dogs, which adds support to the theory that a single domestication event could have originated there, but its not the only one. Some African provinces also boast of a vast genetically diverse canine population and have yet to be tested.This theory is the brainchild of Peter Savolainen, a doctor of the Royal Institute of Technology.
The more I look into this scientific discovery, the more that I feel that the research performed is overlooking a few possible inconsistencies. I don't think that they've managed to discover the location of "the single" domestication event but rather a single event upon itself. How can they claim to have found the origin when they haven't found a percentile of 98% or greater? Did they manage to focus their tests in Africa aswell? Or are they just using China because it seems more culturally probable? Was the farming of these dogs beneficial enough to the societies at that time?
What about this makes people believe it was a focus or reason?
http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/information/dog_food_or_friend.html
I just got around to reading this. You raise a good point about the origin of domestic dogs. There may be a presumption in favor of China.
ReplyDeleteNot that my opinion on the topic really matters but i am familiar with the notion that all domesticated dogs originated from one particular species that being the grey wolf but why all of a sudden make what i describe as a fuss over the fact that they were origionaly used as a food source and by china for that matter given the fact that they still do consider dog as part of the menu doesnt really mean they were the first to do so they first have to test their theories in a wide variety of areas through out the world china and africa cant be the only two places they focused on? And come on anything that pretty much walked on fours and had Fur was considered food n shelter back then the only real reason they raise the notion is because nowadays we consider dog to be mans best friend the dont really make a fuss about people eating deer now do they. well first someone would have to domesticate it first and call it mans best friend before they do that. lol
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