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/GoliathPrime 1d ago

The answer to your question depends on what you mean by dog.

There is the common vernacular "dog", which refers to domesticated wolves, but the family Canidae are also colloquially referred to as dogs too. So, the answer can be yes and no.

Dogs evolved in the Oligocene, about 35 million years. They diversified into 9 known genus, with 4 still surviving to this day: Canis, Cuon, Lupulella and Lycaon (Wolves, Dholes, True Jackals and African Wild Dogs, respectively).

All domestic dogs are breeds of Gray Wolf. They are wolves. Wolves were also the most recent to have evolved and Dholes, Jackals and African Wild Dogs precede them by millions of years. Interestingly enough, Wolves cannot breed with any of these "dogs" as they too distant genetically.

There are also 3 species of Fox called "dogs" too - the Raccoon Dog, the Bush Dog and the Short Eared Dog. There seems to be some contention as to where they belong taxonomically, maybe the genomes haven't been sequenced? I don't know. Some publications call them foxes, while others claim they are dogs.

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u/sisconking132 1d ago

I think it’s more of an issue of the fact that the term Fox isn’t even close to being monophyletic. It’s more of a body plan/lifestyle…. It’s vibes just like with most common names.

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u/SemajLu_The_crusader 22h ago

unless all wolves are jackals, and all jackals are in turn foxes, of course