Study of Ancient Dogs in the Americas Yields Insights into Human, Dog Migration

Image Courtesy of Angus McNab and the University of Illinois.

January 7, 2015.

Diana Yates, of the University of Illinois, has written an interesting article about recent findings in ancient dog genomes which suggests that dogs emigrated to the Americas about 10,000 years ago.

"The researchers found four never-before-seen genetic signatures in the new samples, suggesting greater ancient dog diversity in the Americas than previously thought. They also found unusually low genetic diversity in some dog populations, suggesting that humans in those regions may have engaged in dog breeding."

-Diana Yates, University of Illinois.

To read the full article/post, click here.

Kelsey E. Witt, Kathleen Judd, Andrew Kitchen, Colin Grier, Timothy A. Kohler, Scott G. Ortman, Brian M. Kemp, Ripan S. Malhi, DNA analysis of ancient dogs of the Americas: Identifying possible founding haplotypes and reconstructing population histories, Journal of Human Evolution.