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Researchers announced Monday that nearly two thirds of modern dog breeds carry detectable wolf DNA, indicating recent interbreeding between domestic dogs and wild wolves. Coverage from Seattlepi has highlighted this story.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found a wide range in wolf ancestry across breeds: tiny amounts in some companion dogs and much larger proportions in wolfdog lines and certain hound breeds.

Lead study author Audrey Lin of the American Museum of Natural History said the findings challenge previous assumptions about dog genetics. “Prior to this study, the leading science seemed to suggest that in order for a dog to be a dog, there can’t be very much wolf DNA present, if any,” she said, adding, “This completely makes sense to anyone who owns a chihuahua.”. Reporting by Pnas offers additional detail on this case.

Logan Kistler, curator at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, framed the results in ecological and human contexts, noting differences in how wolves and dogs have lived and moved. “Wolves are evolved for specific habitats and specific conditions, and dogs have been carried to every corner of the inhabited world by people,” he said.

The study reports breed-level variation in wolf ancestry. Some breeds, such as the Czechoslovakian wolfdog and Saarloos wolfdog, have much higher levels of wolf ancestry, while breeds like the chihuahua have very low but detectable amounts. The study also noted that village dogs carry wolf ancestry at a universal level, with village dogs described as 100 percent having wolf ancestry.

Kistler emphasized that some wolf genes likely persisted because they offered advantages in particular environments, saying the research highlights “wolf genes that gave them advantages in certain contexts.” His comment underscores the study’s implication that recent wolf–dog admixture was not uniformly removed by breed development or human selection. As covered by Scitechdaily, readers can explore more context around the event.

The findings were made public Monday and appear in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Reporting on the study has noted the scale of the dataset and its implications for understanding modern dog diversity; coverage in outlets such as Seattle PI summarized the research and placed the results in broader context.

Researchers with affiliations at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History led the work and presented their conclusions together. The study’s publication in a major scientific journal makes the data and methods available for further scrutiny and follow-up research.

For dog owners and breed researchers, the study reframes how recent genetic contributions from wolves are understood across the domestic dog population. Kistler cautioned against literal interpretations of the findings: “This does not mean that ‘wolves are coming into your house and mixing it up with your pet dog.'”

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.

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