Genetic record for domestic dogs pushed back by 5,000 years

Researchers have identified the earliest known dog genomes, which push the genetic record for dogs back by more than 5,000 years. They recovered these genomes from remains of between 14,000 and 16,000 years old found at archaeological sites that span Europe and the Middle East. The team also identified an early domestic dog population (Canis lupus familiaris) that spanned Western Eurasia and was kept by diverse human hunter-gatherer groups. The findings show that dogs were exported and exchanged by various human groups, underlying dogs’ importance to early communities with different ways of living.