According to a study, led by SciLifeLab researcher Peter Savolainen (KTH), the Australian dingo derives from domesticated dogs. Scientists have long suspected this but up until now, no genomic studies to confirm the hypothesis have been conducted. Their migration to Australia began 9,900 years ago when they split off from their ancestors, the Indonesian village dog.
“Our analyses of phylogeny, population structure, and demography as well as selection analysis, show that the dingo is a genetically distinct population clearly differentiated from the domestic dog. Genes related to behaviour, food digestion and reproduction have evolved in order to adapt dingoes to living in the wild instead of together with humans.” says Peter Savolainen in a news article from KTH.
Earlier studies have confirmed the connection between Southeast Asian domestic dogs and the dingo but the timing of the split and migration route has remained unknown. According to the study, published in Nature Communications, the migration started around 9,900 years ago which was followed by a 8,000-year feralization when the dogs reached Australia.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.