Journal
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
Volume 29, Issue 7, Pages 895-903Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2016.1262854
Keywords
Wild wolves; domestic dogs; latest Pleistocene; social compatibility; apex predators; apex consumers
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The immediate ancestors of modern domestic dogs emerged from wild wolves in latest Pleistocene times. In taking up life with people, they represent a lineage of wolves that escaped the extinction that struck a variety of animals at that time. Unlike wild wolves, animals that became well known apex predators of recent times, wolves that became dogs initially joined hunting-gathering people, many of whom functioned as apex predators. As such, those original dogs were equipped with meaningful behavioral compatibility with people, and some of them surely assisted hunting-gathering peoples with important hunting activities. Initial social compatibility between people and dogs was further refined as the Pleistocene gave way to the Holocene and the new dog population grew and expanded. Where people later developed agricultural economies, however, dogs transitioned with them as apex consumers, a fundamental change in trophic strategy. But in embarking on that new strategy dogs tended to become a less conspicuous part of people's lives. Noteworthy exceptions to that generalization underscore the diversity of roles that dogs have played, and continue to play, in the human psyche.
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