How wolves became dogs?

But the details of how wolves became some of our furry companions remain shrouded in mystery. (See dog-evolution pictures. Sometime between 10,000 and 32,000 years ago, humans began domesticating wolves, possibly somewhere in Southeast Asia, according to research on mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring. read more

Eleven North American grey wolves and 14 young dogs, all raised in similar circumstances, took part in the experiments. These were not wild wolves, so some would question whether their performance was based on genetics or learning from their feeders. read more

Since 2008 Zsófia Virányi, an ethologist at the Wolf Science Center in Austria, and her colleagues have been raising the two species to figure out what makes a dog a dog—and a wolf a wolf. At the center, the researchers oversee and study four packs of wolves and four packs of dogs, containing anywhere from two to six animals each. read more