Sleepy Dog Pose

To reveal the origin of one of the closest human mammals, scientists from the University of Oxford studied genetic data and compared it with archaeological evidence.They examined a series of genes from an ancient 4,800-year-old dog found at Newgrange's Tomb in Ireland.Scientists also examined mitochondrial DNA (DNA material in the cell organ that works to generate power) from 59 other ancient dogs that lived between 3,000 and 14,000 years ago, and compared it with 2,500 genetic cells of modern dogs.The results show clearly that there is a genetic difference between the population of modern dogs currently living in East Asia and Europe. (Also read: Is it true that dogs hate people we hate too?)It shows, this human friend is the result of the evolution of two different wolf populations living in two different places, and experienced more than one taming.Quoted from the Daily Mail, last week, Greger Larson, a researcher from Oxford University, said taming animals is a rarity to talk about and needs a lot of data to prove it.Self-sacrifice does not only happen to dogs. Keith Dobney from the University of Liverpool found that wild pigs are also domesticated twice, in China and Anatolia, Turkey.Previously, there were several theories that developed related to dog taming. One theory suggests, initially humans are actively doing taming, then breeding wolves.(Also read: Is Dogpassing the equivalent of a Five-Year-Old Child?)As for other theories, the wolf itself becomes benign by following humans and eating human remains, or roaming near human settlements, transformed into dogs and become human friends until now.