Dog evolved 'on the waste dump'

[microrobert]

Dog evolved 'on the waste dump'

Anyone who owns a dog knows that it will rummage around in the kitchen bin looking for food, given half a chance.

But this annoying behaviour may have a more profound undercurrent than we realise, according to scientists.

A new study of dog genetics reveals numerous genes involved in starch metabolism, compared with wolves.

It backs an idea that some dogs emerged from wolves that were able to scavenge and digest the food waste of early farmers, the team tells Nature journal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21142870

[Albion]

I don't think we should instantly jump to the conclusion that dogs evolved on dumps because of this. These mutations could simply be from humans feeding them scraps for millenia, and since the majority of humans (peasants) ate very little meat themselves, this is the result.

[Graham]

My dog tries to eat shit...is that evolution or not?

[Virtuous]

I hope that we don't evolve into such behaviour.

[Óttar]

Someone I know once suggested that dogs evolved licking from serving a specific sanitary purpose for human beings.