I mean we do not have huge beasts like that in my neighborhood.
I am in No Virginia Hubbs and I live in kind of a big park with trails in the woods.
i used to walk on those trails daily (not any more, too busy with daddy) and one time I just strolled right through and saw a grey dog just wandering the trail. My brain did not register.... I actually kind of said "Hi" to the dog and was going to reach out and pet it, but I was about 5 feet away, I stopped saw no collar and then realized it was a 🐺 wolf. 🙄😁
That's certainly what we would expect. But I was thinking of a study done about ten or fifteen years ago that showed four distinct lineages of canids, one of which went to wolves, and the other three of which went to dogs. Each of those lineages, at least of the three dog groups, converged about 12,000 years ago, and all four converged on a common ancestor about 50,000 years ago. On that evidence, it would certainly look more like wolves are descended from dogs, than dogs from wolves.
The stereotype of the domestication event is that some caveman killed the mother wolf, and let his kids raise the puppies. But if the study is correct, then domestication of the dog might be a little more complex than that. The common ancestor was more likely some kind of wolf-dog-jackal creature, neither dog nor wolf as we think of them today, that hung around, and followed, top-level predators like the big cats, to get a share of their kills when they were done. When modern humans spread out over the world about 50,000 years ago as serious big-game hunters in their own right, at the expense of the big cats, the wolf-dogs started following the human bands instead. They were wild and independent, and hung around the fringes of camp like a plague of giant rats, who could snap up food in a heartbeat, or a weak, lone human as well.
12,000 years ago would be the point at which humans learned to store meat beyond consumption in the next few days. From that point, dogs lived with humans only by tolerance as the humans chose to share their food or not. Three lines became domesticated. A fourth broke off to become a top-level predator in its own right.
My thinking anyway. But yes, it will have been a common ancestor, and it will have looked more like a wolf.
the wolf seemed very different. Did not acknowledge my presence and did not make eye contact. That was the big tell. I mean, I could have gone over and knelt down and said, "hey doggie, where are you from? Where is your collar? Are you lost? Where are your servants?" whilst scratching it's neck and patting head.
That might have been awkward. .....or he would have just run off instantly
well, yes, that... but where was this?
I mean we do not have huge beasts like that in my neighborhood.
I am in No Virginia Hubbs and I live in kind of a big park with trails in the woods.
i used to walk on those trails daily (not any more, too busy with daddy) and one time I just strolled right through and saw a grey dog just wandering the trail. My brain did not register.... I actually kind of said "Hi" to the dog and was going to reach out and pet it, but I was about 5 feet away, I stopped saw no collar and then realized it was a 🐺 wolf. 🙄😁
Wow! Well, genetics say that wolves are descended from dogs. Make of that what you will.
Actually, I think they both rise from a common ancestor that was more like a wolf.
That's certainly what we would expect. But I was thinking of a study done about ten or fifteen years ago that showed four distinct lineages of canids, one of which went to wolves, and the other three of which went to dogs. Each of those lineages, at least of the three dog groups, converged about 12,000 years ago, and all four converged on a common ancestor about 50,000 years ago. On that evidence, it would certainly look more like wolves are descended from dogs, than dogs from wolves.
The stereotype of the domestication event is that some caveman killed the mother wolf, and let his kids raise the puppies. But if the study is correct, then domestication of the dog might be a little more complex than that. The common ancestor was more likely some kind of wolf-dog-jackal creature, neither dog nor wolf as we think of them today, that hung around, and followed, top-level predators like the big cats, to get a share of their kills when they were done. When modern humans spread out over the world about 50,000 years ago as serious big-game hunters in their own right, at the expense of the big cats, the wolf-dogs started following the human bands instead. They were wild and independent, and hung around the fringes of camp like a plague of giant rats, who could snap up food in a heartbeat, or a weak, lone human as well.
12,000 years ago would be the point at which humans learned to store meat beyond consumption in the next few days. From that point, dogs lived with humans only by tolerance as the humans chose to share their food or not. Three lines became domesticated. A fourth broke off to become a top-level predator in its own right.
My thinking anyway. But yes, it will have been a common ancestor, and it will have looked more like a wolf.
the wolf seemed very different. Did not acknowledge my presence and did not make eye contact. That was the big tell. I mean, I could have gone over and knelt down and said, "hey doggie, where are you from? Where is your collar? Are you lost? Where are your servants?" whilst scratching it's neck and patting head.
That might have been awkward. .....or he would have just run off instantly
Neat. It's lucky to have an experience like that. Such a tell on comparative canine psychology.
Was it a puppy? I mean, my experience is that they are huge. One knocked me down once just putting its
paws on my shoulders
So beautiful