Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development

Abstract

There are nearly 400 modern domestic dog breeds with a unique histories and genetic profiles. To track the genetic signatures of breed development, we have assembled the most diverse dataset of dog breeds, reflecting their extensive phenotypic variation and heritage. Combining genetic distance, migration, and genome-wide haplotype sharing analyses, we uncover geographic patterns of development and independent origins of common traits. Our analyses reveal the hybrid history of breeds and elucidate the effects of immigration, revealing for the first time a suggestion of New World dog within some modern breeds. Finally, we used cladistics and haplotype sharing to show that some common traits have arisen more than once in the history of the dog. These analyses characterize the complexities of breed development resolving long standing questions regarding individual breed origination, the effect of migration on geographically distinct breeds, and by inference, transfer of trait and disease alleles among dog breeds.

The role of common ancestry and gene flow in the evolution of human‐directed play behaviour in dogs

“…However, haplotypes would be broken down over time by recombination, so haplotype sharing reflects recent genetic contact only. In fact, haplotype sharing relies on large haplotype size that particularly targets regions that are shaped by admixture (Parker et al, ). These two phenomena explain why we detect only a modest correlation between the two similarity matrices.…”

“…Given the large number of processes involved and the relatively poor and sometimes unreliable historical documentation of the creation of dog breeds in the distant past, until now it has been difficult to reconstruct the complex evolutionary relationships among breeds. However, recent analyses of genome sequences have permitted separating signatures of shared ancestry from that of recent admixture and revealed that the dogs’ evolutionary history can be characterized by a two‐step process (Lindblad‐Toh et al, ; Parker et al, ; Wang et al, ). First, an ancient separation of major breed types may have occurred, through which features of appearance and behaviour have been selected to enhance the desired main function in accordance with the human progression (i.e.…”

Phylogenetic Analysis of Maternal Lineages in Modern-Day Breeds of British Canis lupus familiaris

“…Some statistical evidence suggests that Asian and Middle Eastern varieties diverged long before what has been called the 'Victorian Explosion' of dog breeds in Britain and the rest of Europe (Parker et al, 2017). One such study identified 9 dog breeds that could be represented on the outgroup of a broad-scale inter-species phylogeny (Pollinger et al, 2010 single nucleotide polymorphisms that gave a genome-wide coverage of 912 dogs representing 85 breeds.…”

“…One such study identified 9 dog breeds that could be represented on the outgroup of a broad-scale inter-species phylogeny (Pollinger et al, 2010 single nucleotide polymorphisms that gave a genome-wide coverage of 912 dogs representing 85 breeds. Among the oldest lineages of European descent were those most closely related to herding breeds, mastiffs, and other hound varieties (Parker et al, 2017& Pollinger et al, 2010.…”

“…The cohabitation of dogs and humans would have greatly improved the chances of survival for early human groups, and the domestication of dogs may have been one of the key forces that led to human success (Newby, 1997). The oldest dog breeds evolved or were bred to fill certain roles (Parker et al, 2017). A recent paper published in the journal Science said domestication likely happened from two separate wolf populations, one in Europe and the other in Asia (Coustal, 2017).…”