Given that dogs come in every shape, size and colour, it is strange to think they are all wolves under the skin. According to DNA studies, domestic dogs owe their origins to a wolf cub that probably fell into the hands of humans some 40,000 years ago somewhere in Southeast Asia. Over the course of thousands of years, they were shaped by humans for hunting, guarding and herding into the 400 or so modern breeds. "It's incredible what you can do with selective breeding," says Alice Dowswell, exhibition curator at the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire. "Originally, according to DNA samples, it would appear that the domestic dog is most closely related to the grey wolf. Point-two-percent is the difference between domestic dog DNA and grey wolf DNA, whereas the difference between coyote DNA and dog DNA is 4%. So the grey wolf is by far the closest match." BBC So how can we explain this if we reject evolution? This is just one of a small number of scientific articles on evolution (out of the far more extensive amount out there) that get their way into the mainstream media. |
A theist would smile and say: "Yes, but they are all still dogs."