The gene is called IGF1 – and it’s one that all little dogs like Chihuahuas, spaniels and small terriers have in common. Now researchers have been able to pin down exactly what part of the world our tiny companions originated from.
The researchers looked at gray wolf populations around the world – from Alaska to China – to search for the gene. Melissa Gray of UCLA and her colleagues found that wolves didn’t have a variant of the IGF1 at all, confirming that the genetic mutation that led to small-sized dogs occurred after domestication. “But because all small dog breeds have some version of this gene, it likely arose early in the history of dogs,” livsciene.com reports.
What they did find, however, was that the IGF1 gene found “most closely related to genes found in Middle Eastern gray wolf populations”, indicating “that small domestic dogs arose there several thousand years ago”.
Read the full story here.
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Scientists hone in on the origins of small dogs
The gene is called IGF1 – and it’s one that all little dogs like Chihuahuas, spaniels and small terriers have in common. Now researchers have been able to pin down exactly what part of the world our tiny companions originated from.
The researchers looked at gray wolf populations around the world – from Alaska to China – to search for the gene. Melissa Gray of UCLA and her colleagues found that wolves didn’t have a variant of the IGF1 at all, confirming that the genetic mutation that led to small-sized dogs occurred after domestication. “But because all small dog breeds have some version of this gene, it likely arose early in the history of dogs,” livsciene.com reports.
What they did find, however, was that the IGF1 gene found “most closely related to genes found in Middle Eastern gray wolf populations”, indicating “that small domestic dogs arose there several thousand years ago”.
Read the full story here.