Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs
2020/10/29 by Anders Bergström, Laurent Frantz, Ryan Schmidt +53 · 302 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Archaeology #Biology #Evolutionary biology #Forensic and Genetic Research #Geography #Human-Animal Interaction Studies #Prehistory #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research
paper · open access · doi:10.1126/science.aba9572
published in Science 370(6516), 557-564 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 2020/10/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract
Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to what extent it was linked to humans. We sequenced 27 ancient dog genomes and found that all dogs share a common ancestry distinct from present-day wolves, with limited gene flow from wolves since domestication but substantial dog-to-wolf gene flow. By 11,000 years ago, at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified, demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs during the Paleolithic. Coanalysis with human genomes reveals aspects of dog population history that mirror humans, including Levant-related ancestry in Africa and early agricultural Europe. Other aspects differ, including the impacts of steppe pastoralist expansions in West and East Eurasia and a near-complete turnover of Neolithic European dog ancestry.
Citations
- Ancient Wolf Genome Reveals an Early Divergence of Domestic Dog Ancestors and Admixture into High-Latitude Breeds
- Massive migration from the steppe is a source for Indo-European languages in Europe
- Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans
- Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans
- Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium, the Ukraine and Russia: osteometry, ancient DNA and stable isotopes
- Toward Automatic Reconstruction of a Highly Resolved Tree of Life
- Genetic Evidence for an East Asian Origin of Domestic Dogs
- Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Ancient Canids Suggest a European Origin of Domestic Dogs
- Reconstructing Indian population history
- Pre-Columbian origins of Native American dog breeds, with only limited replacement by European dogs, confirmed by mtDNA analysis
- Genetic Structure of the Purebred Domestic Dog
- Genome sequencing of the extinct Eurasian wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, illuminates the phylogeography and evolution of cattle
- Genome Sequencing Highlights the Dynamic Early History of Dogs
- A framework for variation discovery and genotyping using next-generation DNA sequencing data
- Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome
- A wolf in dog's clothing: Initial dog domestication and Pleistocene wolf variation
- Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development
- The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
- Reconstructing Prehistoric African Population Structure
- 137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes
- Posterior Summarization in Bayesian Phylogenetics Using Tracer 1.7
- Interspecific Gene Flow Shaped the Evolution of the Genus Canis
- Population genomics of grey wolves and wolf-like canids in North America
- The genomic history of southeastern Europe
- Ancient cattle genomics, origins, and rapid turnover in the Fertile Crescent
- Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia
- Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Central Asian domestication origin
- Multiple and Ancient Origins of the Domestic Dog
- Copper minerals and archaeometallurgical materials from the Vinca culture sites of Belovode and Plocnik: Overview of the evidence and new data
- Озимая вика в бинарных посевах на эродированных черноземах Ростовской области
- Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Middle Pleistocene cave bear reconstructed from ultrashort DNA fragments
- The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet
- Genomic Diversity and Admixture Differs for Stone-Age Scandinavian Foragers and Farmers
- Genome-wide SNP and haplotype analyses reveal a rich history underlying dog domestication
- Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory
- A 33,000-Year-Old Incipient Dog from the Altai Mountains of Siberia: Evidence of the Earliest Domestication Disrupted by the Last Glacial Maximum
- mtDNA Data Indicate a Single Origin for Dogs South of Yangtze River, Less Than 16,300 Years Ago, from Numerous Wolves
- Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians
- Out of southern East Asia: the natural history of domestic dogs across the world
- Early farmers from across Europe directly descended from Neolithic Aegeans
- Universidad de Sigüenza
- Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent
- Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East
- Genomic Analyses of Pre-European Conquest Human Remains from the Canary Islands Reveal Close Affinity to Modern North Africans
- Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation
- A new look at an old dog: Bonn-Oberkassel reconsidered
- The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia
- The evolutionary history of dogs in the Americas
- Ancient European dog genomes reveal continuity since the Early Neolithic
- Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines
- Specialized sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North American Arctic
- Ancient DNA Evidence from China Reveals the Expansion of Pacific Dogs
Cited by
Related