Japanese Wolves Could Be Ancestors Of Dogs?

     Have you ever wondered where dogs originated from? I feel like all humans have since we all have cuddly companions we consider to be our best friends. Surprisingly, a Japanese Wolf may hold the key to discovering the ancestors of dogs. The legend of the Japanese wolf was that if you were in a dark forest it would lead you to safety. In modern times, scientists are studying DNA from the bones to determine the cause of the extinct population and how wolves could be potentially ancestors. This study is still a work in progress but has found some great discoveries as to the ancestors of dogs.

The Japanese wolf’s origins are unknown as to how it ended up in Japan. Through greater research, it was found to be a closely linked ancestor to Siberian wolves which were thought to have been eradicated as a species. In order to find out if the Japanese wolves and dogs actually could be ancestors, an evolutionary biologist named Yohey Terai decided to do some experimentation to test this potential theory. He and his colleagues removed as well as sequenced genomes of nine of the Japanese wolves. The researchers also went and extracted 11 of the Japanese dogs' genomes. Yohey Terai compared each of these genomes to those from foxes, wolves, and modern dogs in the world. What was discovered is that the Japanese dogs were unique to themselves meaning they were
separate from the other groups that were experimented on. Furthermore, when Yohey Terai and his colleagues created evolutionary trees, it was discovered that the branch that held the Japanese wolf was more closely linked to dogs than any other species. This research highlights that dogs and the Japanese wolves share a common ancestor, the gray wolves who disappeared in the East Asia region. There were conflicting viewpoints as to where this species originated from. Savolanian argues that dogs came from the region of Southeast Asia, while Yohey and his colleagues said that they originated in northeastern Siberia. This study unfortunately doesn’t give any insight as to who is right in their prediction but it does show that dogs could have originated from multiple locations. Moreover, despite these new findings, both scientists Yohey Terai and Savolanian argue that there needs to be more extensive research done to firmly determine that dogs and Japanese wolves share a common ancestor.

This research definitely has an impact on the scientific community because lineages help us determine who common ancestors are and can more deeply study similar characteristics that they share. It is also significant when determining how dogs can pass down disease within their species or even a common ancestor who had the same conditions. This is why veterinary medicine and lab work is a growing field because scientists are interested in finding out the similarities in DNA in lineages of animals. Potentially in the near future scientists could discover how to increase the lifespan of dogs by potentially altering their DNA strands.