New Research Sheds Light On the Evolution of Dogs 374
Hugh Pickens writes writes "The first dogs descended from wolves about 14,000 years ago but according to Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods humans didn't domesticate dogs — dogs sought out humans and domesticated us. Humans have a long history of eradicating wolves, rather than trying to adopt them which raises the question: How was the wolf tolerated by humans long enough to evolve into the domestic dog? 'The short version is that we often think of evolution as being the survival of the fittest, where the strong and the dominant survive and the soft and weak perish. But essentially, far from the survival of the leanest and meanest, the success of dogs comes down to survival of the friendliest.' Most likely, it was wolves that approached us, not the other way around, probably while they were scavenging around garbage dumps on the edge of human settlements. The wolves that were bold but aggressive would have been killed by humans, and so only the ones that were bold and friendly would have been tolerated. In a few generations, these friendly wolves became distinctive from their more aggressive relatives with splotchy coats, floppy ears, wagging tails. But the changes did not just affect their looks but their psychology. Protodogs evolved the ability to read human gestures. 'As dog owners, we take for granted that we can point to a ball or toy and our dog will bound off to get it,' write Hare and Woods. 'But the ability of dogs to read human gestures is remarkable. Even our closest relatives — chimpanzees and bonobos — can't read our gestures as readily as dogs can. 'With this new ability, these protodogs were worth knowing. People who had dogs during a hunt would likely have had an advantage over those who didn't. Finally when times were tough, dogs could have served as an emergency food supply and once humans realized the usefulness of keeping dogs as emergency food, it was not a huge jump to realize plants could be used in a similar way.' This is the secret to the genius of dogs: It's when dogs join forces with us that they become special," conclude Hare and Woods. 'Dogs may even have been the catalyst for our civilization.'"
Hare + Woods + dogs = ? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No surprise then that the uncivalised hate them (Score:5, Funny)
I never allow my dog to lick my "utensils". He's quite capable of licking his own, thank you very much.
Re:I'd think it takes two (Score:5, Funny)
As is typical in summaries here, and the attention-seeking articles they come from, the content doesn't seem to be as radical as the sales pitch.
Nothing in the summary suggests wolves domesticated humans. It doesn't suggest that they caused us to somehow adapt. It describes a peculiarity in some wolves that turned out to be advantageous, and snowballed into full scale domestication.
Color me surprised.
But dogs also caused us to domesticate plants too. It's right there in TFS, so it must be true.
Re:Stop anthropomorphizing evolition. It hates tha (Score:5, Funny)
Stop anthropomorphizing evolition. It hates that!
If it hates it so much why did it evolve us to do it?
Re:Credit where it's due (Score:5, Funny)
SSshhhh. Keep it down or you'll be "disappeared" and placed deep in the tuna-mines.
Re:Survival of the fittest (Score:5, Funny)
it doesn't fly at all
Hmmm. You obviously have never tried to catch a chicken before. City boy.
Re:Credit where it's due (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, some people (my wife for instance) seem to be pathologically unable to live without a cat (or cats) around. I don't hate cats, but if I never saw another one in the rest of my life it wouldn't bother me overly. I just don't get the attraction people seem to feel for cats. They don't do anything, they just turn cat food into cat fur on the furniture :P
Re:Survival of the fittest (Score:2, Funny)
it doesn't fly at all
Hmmm. You obviously have never tried to catch a chicken before. City boy.
Yeah... they're quite slippery when gotten out from the freezer, hard to catch indeed... and they do fly if missus throws one at you.
How surreal... (Score:5, Funny)
Finally when times were tough, dogs could have served as an emergency food supply and once humans realized the usefulness of keeping dogs as emergency food, it was not a huge jump to realize plants could be used in a similar way.'
Consider the venus flytrap: an excellent "guard plant" for defending your lair at night... and when you're thirsty, simply throw it in the juicer." (Maybe they'll even determine that once primitive man discovered how useful oxygen could be for fire, it wasn't a huge jump to realize that it could be inhaled as well...)
Re:No surprise then that the uncivalised hate them (Score:4, Funny)
Dude, I know a whole pack (pun) of patchouli using vegans who smell worse than Bigfoot's dick.