A legacy of genetic entanglement with wolves shapes modern dogs
Lin AT, Fairbanks RA, Barba-Montoya J, Liu HL, Kistler L.
Abstract
Although wolves and dogs can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, hybridization between the two is far more rare than domestic and wild populations of other species. We combined highly sensitive local ancestry inference and phylogenomic analyses of genomes representing 2,693 ancient and modern dogs and wolves. Almost two-thirds of breed dogs have wolf ancestry within their nuclear genome from admixture that occurred nearly a thousand generations ago, and all analyzed free-ranging dog genomes carry some ancient wolf ancestry. Wolf ancestry correlates with traits like size, function, and personality characteristics. Altogether, the majority of dogs today have low, but detectable levels of postdomestication wolf ancestry that has shaped their evolution and conferred unique advantages to their survival in diverse human environments.
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