Dogs Make Us Human

Australian Museum ^ | 3-25-2002 | Heidi De Wald

[blam]

Dogs make us human

By Heidi De Wald
Monday, 25 Mar, 2002

About 48% of Australian households own dogs. But can you imagine a world without dogs. And would we be the same if they were not here? Would human beings have developed in very different ways had our best friends not been by our sides?

A recent study suggests that the domestication of dogs mutually led to profound changes in the biological and behavioural evolution of both species.

It has long been known that the first species domesticated by humans was the wolf. In essence, we made wolves into dogs. But did wolves also make us, beginning over 100,000 years ago? This is the key question explored in this study.

New theories about the origins of modern humans, the earliest dogs and the crucial role of human-dog co-evolution are highlighted in this "ground-pawing" paper by Dr. Paul S.C. Tacon, Australian Museum, Sydney and Dr. Colin Pardoe, Bio-Archaeology consultant, Adelaide.

They present fossil evidence recovered by others supporting DNA results of dog domestication over 100,000 years ago and are the first to make the link between the fossil and genetic evidence.

"Our study, along with those of others published this year, shows the origin of modern humans and their behaviour is more complex than either of the popular theories suggests. A more exact picture of who we are and where we came from is only now emerging, one that is richer and more convoluted than the two impressionistic alternative models." said Dr. Paul Tacon, Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum.

Drs. Tacon and Pardoe argue that the early canine-sapien relationship ultimately changed the world forever. They not only elaborate on and provide greater time depth for previous studies that focused on implications of the relationship for recent times but also explore the implications of dog domestication close to the time that modern humans are believed to have emerged. These include:

The origins of human territorial marking and, ultimately, the development of art and a symbolic explosion of land marking.
The development of big game hunting.
The origins of 'mateship' and new forms of bonding to negotiate complex situations.
Implications for the settlement of Australia.
Tacon and Pardoe conclude that, ultimately, dogs were one of a few key forces that led to anatomically and behaviourally modern humans of 100,000 years ago and that this has complicated the recent 'Out of Africa' versus 'Regional Continuity' debate.

Dogs Make Us Human is published today in the Autumn 2002 edition of Nature Australia - published by the Australian Museum.

-ends-

Media contact: Heidi DeWald, Australian Museum, Sydney, +61 2 9320 6181

[SunkenCiv]

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Note: this topic is dated 3/26/2002. Blast from the Past. Thanks blam. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Joe 6-pack]

NOTE: PAST ARTICLE FROM 3/26/02 - Pinged for interest of those who didn't see it the first time 'round.

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[Gene Eric]

Good ol’ article bump.

[Salamander]

Or to his 100 pound

[SunkenCiv]

• Living with humans has taught dogs morals, say scientists [2008]
• Have humans made dogs STUPID? Pets are 'lazy thinkers' compared to wild wolves [2015]