Domestication of Dogs

The dog is among the first domesticated animal though it is uncertain whether the domestication process occurred at once or over a period of time. This has prompted scientists to take a deep insight in research on domestication in archeology and genetics. This is believed to be the onset of new techniques which have developed to identify dog remains and this has enhanced detect the date evidence about the initial domestication of dogs. This paper seeks to unearth domestication of dogs as a process and provide archeological and genetic markers in dog domestication.

Domestication of dogs is an outstanding form of mutualism which develops between the human population and the dog. This process has strong selective advantages for the mutual partners. The domesticates have played a small role in economies of societies as they were used in hunting and gathering. The dogs provided a buffer against varied environmental uncertainties which established a stable subsistence base that enabled human expand in the challenging environment. This process occurred over s period of time with an increased mutualistic relationship benefitting either side. The mutual interdependence is what drove the interest of either party to start staying with the other.

Morphological and behavioral markers in archeology indicate that there exists a relationship in the domestication of dogs. Selection of dogs as domestic animals is directly a morphological link to modification of behavior making clear changes. Human beings have tolerated vices in dogs such as penning, aggression, reduction of aggression and wariness and sexual precocity. Some of these reduced aggression in dogs is reflected by lop ears, piebald coats, reduction in teeth and shortening of facial bones. According to Hemmer, the domesticated dogs have also shown ecophenotypic changes evidenced by isotopic studies on their bones. There are also signs of past human settlement patterns as depicted by the corals which compares human beings’ habitats to those of a dog.

Genetic responses are quite evident in the mutualistic relationship between human beings and the dog. The evolutionary ancestry which depicts a neutral evolving organellar and noncoding loci between human beings and dogs is quite evident. There is a causative mutation for varied monogenic traits especially coat color among the dogs. The archeologists have advanced their research to validate the issue about domestication among dogs to have been a long process over a period of time through archeology and genetics. Thus, development of dogs is highly attributed to domestication which has given the dog its current traits as a friendly animal to human being.