They think Europe is the origin of the dog

For years , scientists have been intrigued by the origin of man's best friend .
The oldest dog fossils known from Europe . But DNA studies have pointed to East Asia and the Middle East. Now, a comprehensive DNA study suggests that dogs originated in Europe makes 19000-32000 years.


Experts praised the new study but warned that will not end the debate.

Scientists generally agree that the dog came from the wolf to become the first domesticated animal. Their ancestors wolves began to associate with humans, perhaps attracted by food in garbage dumps and debris left by human hunters pets. During this process were taming and scientists believe that humans find them useful for hunting and guarding . For a very long period in the human environment, the wolves were gradually becoming the first dogs.

The most recent attempt to determine where this transition occurred was published online Thursday by the journal Science.

The researchers collected DNA samples from 18 ancient fossils of creatures like wolves and dogs that lived 36,000 years ago in Argentina , Belgium, Germany , Russia, Switzerland and USA. They compared the genetic material with modern samples of 49 wolves in North America , Asia , Europe and the Middle East, 77 dogs with a wide variety of breeds , and four coyotes.

The DNA of modern dogs showed similarities to the genetic material of European antiguosespecímenes and modern European wolves , the researchers reported .

The first dogs evolved partnering with hunter-gatherers rather than farmers , because obviously dogs appeared before agriculture , they said.

" Now , based on genetic evidence , there are three hypotheses on the origin of dogs ," said Robert Wayne , University of California at Los Angeles, one of the study authors.

He said his results suggest rather that eastern Europe Asia or the Middle East. He said the kind of wolf that originated the dog has died .
Olaf Thalmann of the University of Turku in Finland, another author , said that does not mean that Europe is the only place where the dogs came . "We came to the conclusion that Europe played an important role in the process of domestication ," he said in an email