robert wayne

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Robert Wayne in Nature: Ancient dog DNA reveals 11,000 years of canine evolution

Genomes trace how the animals moved around the world — often with humans by their side. The largest-ever study of ancient genomes from the animals suggests that where people went, so did their four-legged friends — to a point. The research also identified major regional shifts in human ancestry that left little mark on dog populations, as well as times when dogs changed, but their masters didn’t. Evolutionary biologist Robert Wayne at the University of California, Los Angeles, sees the large-scale analysis of ancient dog genomes as a major advance. Efforts to unequivocally determine the origins of domestic dogs will need to take the same approach, he adds. “It is just going to require an exhaustive sampling of wolves and dogs throughout the history of dog domestication.”