The Dire Wolf Discovery

By Amy Fernandez

It’s never wise to underestimate dogs. But you already know that. My point is that the more we learn about them the more amazing they become. For instance, we still don’t understand exactly why, but we know that they possess sensory capabilities that border on the supernatural. But it’s the discoveries about dog evolution that truly boggle the mind.

What we don’t know still far outweighs what we do. Moreover, almost every new revelation blows up conventional wisdom on the subject. For instance, it is an accepted fact that the dog descended from multiple domestication events all over the world. Never mind how or why. The timeline goes back way farther than we ever imagined. And it was not some simple scenario. No, dogs played as much of a role in the process as our own vaunted species. They were looking out for the main chance, which is basically why it is always a mistake to underestimate them.

Anyway, here’s the latest shocker. Get ready to jettison that time-honored belief that wolves – Fluffy’s progenitors – staked their claim on this continent. It’s long been believed that wolves originated over here and subsequently migrated beyond the Arctic Circle. That’s because fossil evidence has overwhelmingly supported this theory. But not anymore.

Apparently, we did not have a monopoly on the most resourceful carnivore of the Pleistocene era, (that’s roughly 2.5 million years ago.) Back in 2017 a Chinese mining operation unearthed something odd. Although it took a little time to sort out the details they dredged up fossil remains of something closely approximating the Dire Wolf (Canis dirus). Even though it long ago disappeared from the canine landscape, that discovery demands a brand new round of scientific contention regarding every aspect of canine domestication. On the other hand, it definitely reinforces the thing we’ve known all along.

Canine adaptability has been the secret to their success, and we haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to unraveling that mystery.

Posted by admin on Oct 28 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.