Scientists have obtained evidence that the dog has a single origin in time and space, and an estimation of the time of origin, number of founders and approximate region, which also gives potential clues about the human culture involved.

 

The analyses showed that dogs universally share a common homogenous gene pool containing 10 major haplogroups. However, the full range of genetic diversity, all 10 haplogroups, was found only in south-eastern Asia south of Yangtze River, and diversity

decreased following a gradient across Eurasia, through 7 haplogroups in Central China, and 5in North China and Southwest Asia, down to only 4 haplogroups in Europe.

 

The meansequence distance to ancestral haplotypes indicates an origin 5,400-16,300 years ago from at least 51 female wolf founders. These results indicate that the domestic dog originated in southern China less than 16,300 years ago, from several hundred wolves.

 

The place and timecoincide approximately with the origin of rice agriculture, suggesting that the dogs may have

originated among sedentary hunter-gatherers or early farmers, and the numerous founders indicate that wolf taming was an important culture trait.