STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Peter Savolainen of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology says that new analysis of nuclear DNA confirms his claim that dogs split from grey wolves in South East Asia some 33,000 years ago. Savolainen had analyzed mitochondrial DNA in earlier research, while other researchers, who have said that dogs were first domesticated in the Middle East, Central Asia, or Europe, examined nuclear DNA. Savolainen argues that those studies did not include samples from South East Asia. “Which is why we analyzed the entire nuclear genome of a global sample collection from 46 dogs, which includes samples from southern China and South East Asia. We then found out that dogs from South East Asia stand out from all other dog populations, because they have the highest genetic diversity and are genetically closest to the wolf,” he said in a press release. The genetic information also suggests that dogs spread across the world some 18,000 years ago. For more, go to "More Than Man's Best Friend."
