Origin of dogs: history and interesting facts

Four-legged friends are an integral part of our life. It is difficult to imagine how mankind would have lived without such faithful helpers. The origin of dogs is a question, to which there is still no single answer. There are a huge number of versions, more than a thousand genetic experiments and examinations have been carried out, but the question remains open. Let's try to understand the existing hypotheses and find out why around the domestication of our four-legged friends, there are so many secrets.

Evolutionary theory

The dog is a predatory mammal of the dog family. According to the evolutionary theory, in the first era of the Paleogene period - the Paleocene (about 50 million years ago) there already existed a predatory squad, which, in turn, was divided into two suborders: catlike and psposonic. One of the first representatives of the second suborder is considered to be an animal, like a progressor. After carefully studying its fossil remains, it can be concluded that it looked like a dog: a wide mouth, sharp fangs, high paws, a long body. Over time, this suborder was further divided into three groups.

The first group included representatives of the descendants of the pro-succession, the second - the family of borofagi, and the third - the wolf. It is the last family and the origin of dogs that are closely related, because, according to the evolutionary theory, our four-legged friends originated from wolves.

Assumptions of Charles Darwin

Expeditions of Charles Darwin on the ship "Beagle" allowed him to travel to different countries. He, like no one else, studied the origin of dogs and tried to learn the truth. Charles Darwin established an interesting pattern, which consisted in the fact that the breeds of dogs in certain areas are very similar in appearance to the representatives of the Wolk genus living there. For example, in one region the domestic dog was very similar to the foxes living in the same place, and in the other - to jackals. Dog breeds resembling local predators actually lived in different territories.

Thus, some scientists believe that the origin of dogs is due to the fact that in the framework of uncontrolled breeding, various animals were crossed: foxes, wolves, jackals, coyotes (since each representative has 39 pairs of chromosomes, they can indeed have a hybrid generation). As a result, each breed had similarities in common with this or that species, but at the same time was significantly different from it. Indeed, indeed, some breeds are very similar to foxes, and some to jackals. And if to add to this the selection and artificial selection, then, probably, the origin of the breeds of dogs is connected precisely with the crossing of animals of the same family.

Alternative point of view

Despite the fact that the dog still refers to the species of Wolves, some scientists believe that it originated from the "prasobaka". Perhaps 30-40 million years ago there was another detachment of predators, which is the progenitor of a domestic dog. There are reports that in the excavations were found the remains of ancient animals, similar to dogs. However, there is no scientific basis and evidence of this point of view.

Phenotype of dogs and dog breeding

As we have already explained, the history of the origin of dogs is not fully understood. It is difficult to say with absolute accuracy, from whom they occurred. But even more interest lies in artificial selection and breeding. There are about four hundred different breeds of dogs. They differ in their height, weight, color, shape of ears and tail and many other markers of domestication.

The type of activity, whose main goal is the breeding and improvement of dog breeds, is called dog breeding. Selective selection is primarily based on the goal of breeding a particular breed of dog. There are three directions: decorative, hunting and service. For each, there are certain requirements: weight, height, head, face, nose, etc.

Interesting information

The smallest breed of dogs is, of course, the Chihuahua. One of its representatives Bou-Boo weighs 600 grams and has an increase of 10 centimeters. Chuhuahua is a sweet companion animal. They are very shy, curious and observant. And here is the biggest dog (breed of the Great Dane) - Zeus, has a height of 110 cm and a weight of about 70 kg. This giant breed of dogs is very kind and playful, but only for the hosts. Representatives of this species are often trained as bodyguards.

The origin of the word "dog" is also covered with many secrets and mysteries. In Russian it appeared in the 12th century. There is a huge number of versions about the origin of the word. Someone believes that it originated from the Turkic "kobyak", which translates as "a domesticated predatory animal." Over time, the Slavs turned it into a more easily pronounced "dog." A more scientific version, to which such scientists as Miller and Fasmer tend, is that the word "dog" originated from the Iranian sabāka, which translates as "fast". Until the 12th century the animal was called "dog" or "hort". And it is interesting that the "dog" was used for dogs with thick wool, but "hort", on the contrary, for smooth-haired breeds.