The domestic dog

Question 1

defining features of dogs and wolves

Answer 1

-almost the same DNA sequence, but still genetically different
-dogs- larger eyes, wider faces shortened snout, curled tails, mature slower
-wolves- don’t have floppy ears, better problem solvers, dont from connections with humans like dogs

Question 2

wolf vs dog skull feature

Answer 2

-dogs: shorter snout, smaller and finer canines, shorter brain case
-wolves: snout slopes down gently whereas dogs have a kink in front of their eyes, teeth tend to be less crowded

Question 3

why is there such different estimates in the domestic dog origination

Answer 3

due to fossil evidence, mitochondrial DNA, and nuclear DNA

Question 4

what is mitochondrial DNA

Answer 4

found in cell mitochondria and contains genetic material only form the mother
has 16,000 nucleotides so preserves better

Question 5

what is nuclear DNA

Answer 5

found in the cell nucleus and contains genetic information from both parents
has 3 billion nucleotides

Question 6

what did mitochondrial dna studies of the canids reveal

Answer 6

-interbred with wolves various times
-since mitochondria are maternally inherited wold mitochondria indicate a female wolf was bred by a dog (likely the reverse occurred)
-NA dogs probably evolved from Eurasian wolves
-dogs came to the Americas about 12000bp, in the Palaeolithic period across the bearing strait

Question 7

dingo orgins

Answer 7

-marsupial thylacine was wolf counterpart in australia
-dogs arrives with travelers about 4000 ya
-outcompeted thylacines
-these dogs became feral
-aboriginals used them, they were their hunting companions, gaurds dogs, camp cleanters
-they took pups from wild each breeding season, but upon maturity they were released back into the wild
-DNA studies revealed they are derived from wolf ancestor
-dog and dingo are not a separate species