Proto-Dog and Human Subspecies

I just saw a fascinating documentary on Nova that dealt with the evolution of the domestic dog. To summarize, there’s now a theory with some convincing genetic evidence that wolves were not domesticated and bred by man to become dogs over thousands of years, but that they self-evolved almost instantly. That flies in the face of generally accepted theories on evolution, and raises some very interesting questions and premises for Science Fiction.

The documentary offered evidence that all modern dogs are descended from a new species that evolved about 15,000 years ago in Eastern Asia, called Proto-Dog. The new species for all practical purposes “popped” into existence when humans began living in large enough groups to create garbage dumps. Wolves would gather to forage in these garbage dumps and among those wolves were most likely a few that were less afraid of humans and allowed themselves to be approached and captured, or their pups taken and raised. These domesticated wolves became dogs, but it didn’t happen over thousands of years as many believed, it may have happened in just a few generations—perhaps in one human lifetime? How? How did a new species of canine evolve in the mere blink of an eye on the evolutionary scale? The research holds some surprises.

Studies led to research on a group of silver foxes raised for their pelts in Russia in the 1950s. In order to raise foxes that were easier to manage, Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev conducted experiments where a gloved handler reached into the cages to test the animal’s response. Those foxes that cowered or bit were not selected for breeding. Those that were accepting of the humans were bred. The results? Within a few generations not only was a more docile breed of fox created, but the foxes began exhibiting dog-like appearance, and even their coat colors changed to black and white coat patterns—like some breeds of dogs--instead of the solid dark or smokey coat of this particular breed of fox. They also began behaving very much like a domestic dog and socializing with humans. The hypothesis is that there are genetics links between so-called docile genes and other traits in the DNA and these were expressed when the selected foxes were bred, resulting in almost instantaneous evolution into the dog-foxes, or quite possibly, a new subspecies.

Going back to the spontaneous evolution of wolves, they theorize that once certain wolves were captured and domesticated, then crossed with other “docile gene” mates and producing pup-cubs, the other linked genes began to express themselves in physical change. These docile genes worked like genetic preprogramming. Once conditions were right for domestication, the wolves very rapidly evolved or adapted into a new species better suited to co-exist and co-rely on humans. They also no longer needed to hunt in packs to survive, so physical changes to teeth, jaws, and brains also began occurring at a slower rate along with the docile gene influences. In only a few generations, a breed that was probably very different from wolves existed. Voila. Spontaneous evolution.

In P2PC, my world building involves many different subspecies of humans who evolved with physical differences because of the environments of the planets they settled. I had concerns with this idea because this takes place only 1500 years in our future, and according to accepted theories of evolution, physical changes would require tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years. Now it appears very likely that this would be entirely possible as unknown genetic links come into play in specific gene pools that could cause much faster, more drastic changes. A thousand years to evolve into several subspecies now seems very much within the realm of “suspension of disbelief.”

Want to read more? Check out this link.
How Stuff Works: How Dogs Work--The Evolution of Dogs