Dogs are, of course, people ‘s best friend – our relationship with dogs goes back to the old days when we first made them domestic. Now, a new study by the University of Buffalo has found an ancient fragment of bones to find out how dogs came to America and what route they used to get into. this part of the world.
DNA comes from a bone fragment – a piece of femur – found in southeastern Alaska by a dog that lived there about 10,150 years ago, revealing new clues about canine history.
The study, which will be published on February 24 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B., drawing on the study of the mitochondrial genome of the dog. The researchers concluded that the animal was related to a family of dogs with an evolutionary history dating from the history of Siberian dogs as early as 16,700 years ago.
This separation corresponds to the times when people may have immigrated to North America on a coastal route.
The researchers wanted to find out how the changes in the Ice Age climate affected the survival of animals in the area. The bone fragment was originally thought to be from a bear, but when they examined the DNA, the researchers quickly realized that it was from a dog.
“We now have genetic evidence from an ancient dog found on the Alaskan coast. Because dogs act as a surrogate for human habitation, our data helps not only time but also supports the introduction of dogs and humans to America, supporting the theory that this migration occurred just as coastal glaciers returned during the last Ice Age, “said Charlotte Lindqvist, bio – evolutionary expert and senior author of the study.
Prior to this study, the earliest American dog bones were found in the Midwest USA. However, instead of the inner continental corridor, the first dog and man may have moved through the Pacific Northwest coastal path to their entrance into America.