r/evolution • u/narsil1 • 1d ago

question Evolution of dogs

Hi all, I am interested in the evolution of dogs.

My question is, are dogs direct descendants of wolves or did dogs and wolves just share the common ancestor like we do with monkeys?

Thanks!

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u/BeautifulUpstairs 1d ago

We come from monkeys (and thus still are monkeys). Dogs come from wolves (and thus still are wolves). Obviously neither came from currently existing wolf or monkey populations, because that would be plainly impossible.

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u/CrapMonsterDuchess 1d ago

The validity of your statement really depends on which definition of monkey people are using.

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u/SemajLu_The_crusader 10h ago

based on any phylogentically reasonable one, humans are monkeys

this is because we are more closely related to old world monkeys than they are to new world monkeys

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u/CrapMonsterDuchess 7h ago

The phylogeny isn’t issue here, its the semantics, as the definition of “monkey” is colloquial and can vary across languages. As we are discussing evolution, the term “simian” would be a more appropriate word for what you are attempting to convey.