Pet Wolf?

[alextemplet]

If I remember correctly, the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is believed to be descended from the grey wolf (Canis lupus). If this is true, exactly when did the two become separate species? I've never heard of domestication/selective breeding producing a new species, but is this such an example? There are only two possibilities that I can think of; perhaps someone can name a third:

1) Domestic dogs started out as domestic wolves, and selective breeding by humans later caused the domesticated ones to evolve into a new species.

2) Domestic dogs started out as something similar to, but different from, wolves, and somehow humans managed to domesticate the entire species to the point that no C. familiaris populations survive in the wild.

I suppose similar questions could be asked about the domestic cat, horse, cow, etc.

[MrMistery]

TAKE NOTE!! Canis familiaris, the common dog, was reclasified in the 1980s as a subspecies of the grey wolf. Thus, now, the general accepted name for he dog is Canis lupus familiaris

[alextemplet]

Wow, I wasn't aware of that. That's amazing, especially since poodles don't seem to have that much in common with wolves. I can see the resemblance with work breeds, though, especially huskies. It seems as though my first hypothesis was correct, with the exception that a speciation event never occurred.

Well, thanks for the info. That'll certainly make me look at man's best friend in a whole new way. "Hey, check this out, I have a wolf in my backyard!"

[ZakaSPFC]

odd, we are closer related to pygmy chimps than dogs are to wolves but they are a subspecies, Homo sapien trogolydes?

[MrMistery]

I think our ego prevents scientists from classifing us so close to pigme chimps

[alextemplet]

Some people believe we are more closely related to dogs than chimps. I have NO idea how they draw that conclusion, but some people do actually believe that.

[ZakaSPFC]

The way it is done is they extract the dna from each and burn it seperatly. Then they mix them together and burn it. They take the burn times and make a proportion.

[alextemplet]

Sounds interesting, and I don't doubt that humans and dogs are closely related, but not as close as humans and apes. Just look at the fossils. I don't think there's any fossils of Caninanthropus (translated "Dog man"), unless that's a genus that has yet to be discovered.

[ZakaSPFC]

no you miss understood me, humans are more closely related to pygmy chimps than dogs are to wolves

[ZakaSPFC]

Humans are .7% different from pygmy chimps
while dogs are about 2% from wolves

[alextemplet]

My mistake; I apologize. So why aren't humans and chimps classified as subspecies of the same species? Are people too egotistical to admit that we're so similar to apes?

[ZakaSPFC]

Yep it would probably be seperate species under the genus Homo, but humans are too "UNIQUE" to be grouped with "inferior" primates