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Submission + - Ice age Siberian hunters may have domesticated dogs 23,000 years ago (sciencemag.org) 2

sciencehabit writes: Dogs were the first animals ever domesticated, yet researchers have argued for decades over when, where, and how they arose. Now the most comprehensive comparison of ancient human and canine DNA suggests that dogs were domesticated around 23,000 years ago in Ice Age Siberia.

The people who domesticated them--known as the Ancient North Siberians--were trapped in northeastern Siberia for millennia because the harsh climate of the time prevented them from traveling too far east or west. They were stuck here with the gray wolf, the direct ancestor of today's dogs. Scientists speculate that the two forged a relationship over time, leading to the domestication of the dog. Thousands of years later, these Siberians would give some of their pups to the distant ancestors of Native Americans, who would eventually bring them to the Americas. Other ancient humans, traveling west, would bring them deeper into Asia and Europe, where they would proliferate around the world.

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