When did the grey wolf's (dog) association with man begin?

Question

Some 30 years ago I, Electrical Engineer with grad degrees in Comp Sci, worked with a group of Biologists, Archeologists, Paleontoligists, Geologists & MDs on a project. We'd meet at a local tavern on Friday after work & discuss subjects of interest..

One of these was when the grey wolf began the association with homo-sapien & if it was also associated with Neanderthal or Homo Erectus. Because the Grey Wolf is not found in Africa, we decided the association began in the Mid East & spread through out the World from there. This would put the association at about 50,000 yrs ago. The idea that the grey wolf/human association appeared among differing groups about 12-15,000 yrs ago was rejected as improbable statistically. However, all the current anthropology links I find tend to trumpet the more recent date. We rejected the Neanderthal association due to lack of supporting evidence, but the Wolf would have been the perfect hunting companion for a pure carnivore. Any links...

Answer 1

I know that in some areas of the world various tribes that still live a primitive or semi-primitive existence still use dogs for hunting. These dogs that they use are often natural breeds, meaning no outside interference in mating, and yet are still domesticated with little effort. I know that in Mongolia the various semi-nomdic tribesmen use a natural breed dog for herding. I know that in Africa and South America there has never really been any existence of grey wolves but they do have types of wild dog that have been domesticated. Perhaps the grey wolf is not the oldest ancestor of dogs. If there was an older ancestor then it would allow for various dogs around the world to have evolved to meet the challenges of various climates while still having similar dna. It would also allow for domestication to have begun earlier as this ancestor could have started in Africa with our own human ancestors. I have noticed that certain animals whether of our doing or theirs will follow humans based on their travels. It is logical that our Homo erectus ancestors would have realized the benefits of canine hunting companions in the years following their discovering fire, and considering that Neanderthal is descended from Erectus it makes sense that Neanderthal would have inherited the knowledge of how to domesticate the wild dogs around them. The nomadic lifestyle of Neanderthal as well as the climate shifts of that day obviously make it difficult to find evidence either way.

Answer 2

The last I saw was the report in the mentioning of the "Dog" or wolf, as you said, in the last 15,000 to 18,000 years ago but, it added that it wasn't known if the dog was used as a pet, worker or, if it was used as food. However, I think it was probably used as food by some, and a worker by others, I think it depended on the availability of food. Just as the Southeaster Asians now use the dog, they use it as a pet or food, whatever is available at the time.

    Bones of these animals were found in fire pits.

Answer 3

I don't have any links but I believe it began with the Native American Indians. These groups greatly honored the wolf for their grace, beauty and hunting abilities. I will try to find some links for you, but most of my knowledge of the subject comes from the many books I have read. (Wolves are my favorite animal.)

Wolves are not domesticated, and should not be. Their closest domesticated relative is the German Shepard.

Answer 4

Started with the native american indians

Answer 5

Funny, I have been thinking about this also.  I can't help but think that dogs have been with us for a very long time.  Just a thought, wonder if dogs were a help to humans becoming human.  A funny story, once after our dog ate, my ex told our dog to go burp at me.  I was sitting and that dog came over and burped in my face.  How did that dog know the word burp.  It seemed intentional, not by chance.  Thanks.

You're lucky to work with such people.

Answer 6

Determining an exact date is already difficult enough, but then you add an extra problem: First you establish in your question that the gray wolf and the dog are the same animal, then you say the gray wolf is the sole ancestor of dogs. You even answered Samas: "The Dog is but a domesticated Grey Wolf... genetically that toy poodle is a Wolf." So how is it an ancestor? How is it the same? As a computer scientist would you say a Pentium is nothing "but" a 286?

I'm not saying your information is wrong, but you don't want to let go of any of your premises.

You conclude that "since there is no genetic difference then a toy poodle and a wolf are the same animal". Thus for you domestication is nothing else than "taming" an animal, or "keeping" it close to humans. You seem to find no relevance in human manipulation of phenotypes by breeding selection. You seem to forget how small the genetic difference is between apes and humans. As I see it, part of your answer must be read in those small changes introduced by humans.

Answer 7

Dogs are not basically domesticated wolves - they are genetically different. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were domesticated from grey wolves (Canis lupus). I have included some links to scientific abstracts and papers demonstrating this phenomenon, and will very briefly sum up some important parts.

First, it appears that this domestication occurred in Asia, before human migrations to North America. Some genetic evidence suggests that the division may have occurred as much as 100,000 years ago, but archaeological evidence for man-dog relationships is only from about 15,000 BC and was part of the Neolithic revolution.

One of the most interesting points, and something indicating the very real difference between dogs and wolves, is that domestic puppies have a better grasp of what people are doing than wolves, even if the wolf has lived with people its whole life.

Many Native American groups had domesticated dogs, and in some cases there is evidence that they had different kinds - some for hunting/guarding/pets and some for eating. This has been suggested for prehistoric populations in what is now New York State, based on the fact that dogs buried in cemeteries are morphologically different from dogs found in trash pits. Dogs are also known from prehistoric sites across Asia and Europe. Beyond Eurasia and the Americas my knowledge is a little weak, so I'll leave this here.