Boo!
Hahahahaha
Posted on 03/26/2002 10:29:27 AM PST by 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
Being a male myself, I find that hard to accept. Nearly all of the neutered males that I have seen are fat and lazy. Like they have no hope and nothing to live for.
Have no function!!! I beg your pardon!
We are talking about dogs here, right? - Is your own ego perhaps to closely tied with your dog's genitals? ;~D
I have heard the same thing said about me.
You must be talking about yourself. I think my SIX males would disagree with you. Tell my oldest dog, Jim Dandy, 14yrs,, a pit/pointer mix, @ 90lbs that or Stranger, a shep/rottie mix, @ 100lbs that, I think they will disagree also.
As for myself,,I was fixed in 1975. No problems here.
Yes she does and that's what scares me. This whole neuter you dog campaign is just to get the public used to the idea that castration is okay. Next they will be telling guys who age too unattractive to get any, that they will be much happier if they are neutered.
I’m not going to let that happen to my friend OPH.
A little bit too much. She must be some Lorena bobbit wannabe.
I'm sure that will never happen to him, COC. He is aging wonderfully-the Krispy Kreme doughnuts are filling out his pretty, feminine bathrobe quite nicely and that hickabilly accent (no offense, I'm sure you sound sexy) is enough to make any woman drool. That, coupled with his love for wife beating t-shirts and sitting spread eagle on the sofa while his eyes glaze over watching S4 should be plenty good enough to keep the neuterers at bay.
With him is the rest of my unmatched muttly crew... (Not a "potent" member in the bunch) My labrador was actually un-neutered until he was seven, because he was shown. And although he did well in competition, he didn't do well enough to make his seed more valuable than better dogs that were doing the job. Before he was neutered he was a general pain to be around, much more interested in the female dogs in the field than any birds that might be there. He was neutered for his health because he was getting older... and had I understood how much nicer to be around he would become, I would have done it YEARS earlier.
The cocker mix showed up at my door, needing immediate help to survive she was so sick and starved, that was 15 years ago.
The Dal-Brador in the middle is my young dog. She was actually supposed to be a gift for a boyfriend, but I ended up keeping the dog and ditching the guy.
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