How old is the Human-Dog Friendship? Who is the Man's Oldest Friend?

The dog is the oldest pet and has a long history of contact with humans. Therefore, understanding the history of dogs will not only help us to understand their history, but it will also help us to understand our history: Researcher

Dogs and humans have lived together for a long time, but it is difficult to know the history of the relationship between the two mammals.

A new study examines the structure of the genomes of dogs found 11,000 years ago and sheds light on the history of this creature and the role of humans in the development of the 'Best Friend of Man'.

Led by Andres Bergstrom, a postdoctoral fellow at the Francis Kirk Institute and head of the research team, examined the structure of the genomes of 27 ancient dogs in Europe and Asia and discovered five major breeds of dogs worldwide, spread 11000 years ago which suggests that this genetic history occurred during the Paleolithic period.

"The dog is the oldest pet and has a long history of contact with humans," said Dr. Bergstrom. So understanding the history of the dog will not only help us to understand their history, but it will also help us to understand our history.

Earlier, scientists had estimated that dogs evolved from wolves in a single place 20 to 40 thousand years ago, but the lack of genetic material made it difficult to determine the time and place.

Scientists say the genome of a complete dog and a complete wolf is many years older than what was available during the study.

The indescribable connection between humans and dogs is acknowledged, but when and where it began is still a mystery. As a result, little is known about the population of dogs in ancient history, and little is known about how they came into contact with humans.

But new research that compares the new genome to the genomes of modern-day dogs suggests that the ancestors of all dogs were the same, different from those of modern-day wolves.

It was also found that their original ancestors were separated from wolves, and that dogs contained very limited amounts of wolf genes, but that dogs transmitted more genes to wolves.

Scientists also compared the genomes of ancient dogs with the genes of ancient humans, using data from the same period and examining the number of dogs in history, their migration with humans, and similar events. Where their ancient history is not the same.

Together, the scientists say, the research reveals the "importance of dogs" and their complex common history with humans.

They say, the research goes beyond previous research into dogs as pets. This includes a 2016 study that revealed a 'deep contradiction' between dogs in West Eurasia and East Asia. In addition, a study conducted in 2018 on the first dog to come to North America with humans stated that it was not a breed of North American wolves but an ancient breed of dog from Siberia.

The study has published in the journal “Science”.