Dogs widely distributed across western Eurasia at least 14,300 years ago

Podcast: The Science Show - Separate stories podcast · ABC Australia

Opublikowano: 2026-10-02

The bones were found in 2013 by a team in Türkiye. They look like granules of instant coffee. 40 bones were recovered, with analysis applied to 10, producing one success. This is the genetic lottery with the result being genome sequences of two dogs dating back 14,000–16,000 years, the earliest dogs to be sequenced. Dogs at that time were already genetically distinct from wolves. The work shows that dogs were widely distributed across western Eurasia long before the introduction of agriculture with evidence that the genetic diversification of dogs started much earlier than previously thought.