From scavenger to household royalty: How dogs evolved from wolves to pampered pets
Scientists agree that dogs evolved from wolves and were the first domesticated animals. But exactly how that happened is hotly contested. IDEAS contributor Neil Sandell examines the theories and the evolution of the relationship between dogs and humans.
Social Sharing
Neil Sandell ·
Posted: Mar 01, 2021 5:13 PM ET | Last Updated: March 8
Scientists agree dogs were the first domesticated animal but exactly how that happened is contested. Did humans do it, or was it self-domestication?(John Phillips/Getty Images)
Date Time
Dire Wolves: not just a Game of Thrones’ fantasy – a fearsome distinct, but extinct, canine
Dire wolves not only featured in Game of Thrones, they were also real creatures, and hundreds of thousands roamed the American landscape up until the last ice age. A research project, published today, involving archaeologists from Oxford and around the world, shows though the fearsome dire wolf shared many characteristics with grey wolves, they were an evolutionary distinct species that separated from other canines about five million years ago.
Dire wolves were ubiquitous in America, along with a range of massive creatures, known as megafauna. These included mastodons, six-foot-tall sloths, enormous short-faced bears and beavers the size of compact cars. They disappeared from the continent in a mass extinction during the Pleistocene period – only for some, such as horses, to be reintroduced by Europeans in the last few hundred years.