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. 2002 Nov 22;298(5598):1610-3.
doi: 10.1126/science.1073906.

Genetic evidence for an East Asian origin of domestic dogs

Peter Savolainen  1 , Ya-ping Zhang, Jing Luo, Joakim Lundeberg, Thomas Leitner
Affiliations

Genetic evidence for an East Asian origin of domestic dogs

Peter Savolainen et al. Science. .

Abstract

The origin of the domestic dog from wolves has been established, but the number of founding events, as well as where and when these occurred, is not known. To address these questions, we examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation among 654 domestic dogs representing all major dog populations worldwide. Although our data indicate several maternal origins from wolf, >95% of all sequences belonged to three phylogenetic groups universally represented at similar frequencies, suggesting a common origin from a single gene pool for all dog populations. A larger genetic variation in East Asia than in other regions and the pattern of phylogeographic variation suggest an East Asian origin for the domestic dog, approximately 15,000 years ago.

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Comment in

  • Canine evolution. A shaggy dog history.
    Pennisi E. Pennisi E. Science. 2002 Nov 22;298(5598):1540-2. doi: 10.1126/science.298.5598.1540. Science. 2002. PMID: 12446885 No abstract available.
  • The dog that came in from the cold.
    Acland GM, Ostrander EA. Acland GM, et al. Heredity (Edinb). 2003 Mar;90(3):201-2. doi: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800224. Heredity (Edinb). 2003. PMID: 12634800 No abstract available.

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