A refined proposal for the origin of dogs: the case study of Gnirshöhle, a Magdalenian cave site

Abstract

Dogs are known to be the oldest animals domesticated by humans. Although many studies have examined wolf domestication, the geographic and temporal origin of this process is still being debated. To address this issue, our study sheds new light on the early stages of wolf domestication during the Magdalenian period (16–14 ka cal BP) in the Hegau Jura region (Southwestern Germany and Switzerland). By combining morphology, genetics, and isotopes, our multidisciplinary approach helps to evaluate alternate processes driving the early phases of domestication. The isotope analysis uncovered a restricted, low δ15N protein diet for all analyzed Gnirshöhle specimens, while morphological examinations and phylogenetic relationships did not unequivocally assign them to one or the other canid lineage. Intriguingly, the newly generated mitochondrial canid genomes span the entire genetic diversity of modern dogs and wolves. Such high mitochondrial diversity could imply that Magdalenian people tamed and reared animals originating from different wolf lineages. We discuss our results in light of three ecological hypotheses and conclude that both domestication and the existence of a specialized wolf ecomorph are highly probable. However, due to their proximity to humans and a restricted diet, we propose domestication as the most likely scenario explaining the patterns observed herein.

Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs

“…4d ). The lack of genomes from the earliest dogs in Europe, however, means that future studies may reveal them to have arisen from an independent domestication process that did not contribute substantially to later populations 3 , 45 , 46 .…”

An assessment of current wolf Canis lupus domestication hypotheses based on wolf ecology and behaviour

“…Therefore, collaboration among researchers who are studying wolf domestication and those studying wolves could facilitate wolf-domestication investigations. Various workers have used multidisciplinary approaches to good advantage to facilitate such studies (Baumann et al 2021), but rarely have these collaborations included wolf biologists.…”

Ancient Faunal History Revealed by Interdisciplinary Biomolecular Approaches

“…The complex issue of dog domestication has been addressed through a combination of single-molecule studies (aDNA sequence and genomic analyses, modern genomic analysis) and interdisciplinary research that integrates genetics, morphological assessment, and stable isotope analysis [159,160] (Figures 1, 2 and 4). Compared with the previous, singletopic studies, the integrated nature of the latter has allowed for a more detailed and complex evaluation of the initial stages of the domestication process.…”

“…While the grey wolf is the closest extant relative of dogs, and there is evidence of post-domestication gene flow between dogs and wolves [155,[163][164][165], modern genomic analysis as well as aDNA analysis of fossil remains have proved that dogs were domesticated from a now-extinct wolf species and do not belong to the same lineage as modern wolves [155,161,163,164]. A Late Pleistocene origin for the most recent common ancestor of dogs and wolves has been suggested by aDNA analysis [161,162] and multidisciplinary studies [159,160].…”

“…The geographical origin of dog domestication has yet to be established with certainty, with ancient mitochondrial genomic analysis suggesting a European origin [163], perhaps from multiple and distinct wolf populations [159]. Modern genomic studies, however, propose a Central Asian [166] or Southeast Asian [167,168] origin.…”