Ancient skulls and DNA reveal deep roots of dog diversity and human migrations across Eurasia

The Conversation reports on two Science studies led by Allowen Evin of the University of Montpellier and Shao-Jie Zhang of the Kunming Institute of Zoology. An analysis of 643 Late Pleistocene to Holocene dog and wolf skulls suggests the distinctive dog-like skull shape emerged around 11,000 years ago, with substantial skull diversity even before modern breeding intensification. A parallel study of 73 ancient dog genomes over the last 10,000 years shows dogs shifting their ancestry in Eastern Eurasia in step with human movements, from hunter-gatherers to farmers and pastoralists. Together, these findings indicate that dog diversity has deep roots and that dogs traveled with humans, acting as living records of ancient cultural exchange.