The description of the paper comes from Facebook via Jess Ruffner:
Jeff Saunders has been looking at canids from Clovis sites. He presented results of his work on sites in southern Arizona at the Plains Anthropological Conference in October. He noted the presence of a diminutive form of Dire Wolf in these assemblages. Could this be evidence of early dog domestication in North America? We’ll be exploring this topic in more detail over the next few months. Stay tuned.
I don’t have a copy of the paper, but if I can see a copy, I’d be very grateful.
But am I surpised?
Heck no!
I’ve already discussed the possibility of the Hare Indian dog being a domesticated coyote, and there were lots of domestication attempts with wild dog species.
Only the Eurasian domestication experience with Canis lupus, the Holarctic wolf, ever actually amounted to much.
If these animals are dire wolves, then I have always had some questions about dire wolves.
Were they actually a unique species or were they nothing more than an early wolf subspecies that evolved to be really robust? And exactly how are they related to modern wolves and domestic dogs?
Most early wolf subspecies were not particularly robust, but they later did evolve into big hulking things, including a subspecies that lived in Alaksa during the Pleistocene. This wolf subspecies, though clearly within Canis lupus, but it was more robust and had very powerful jaws that were designed for hunting very large prey. These are the exact same adaptations that the dire wolf, which lived from the Central US to Northern South America, possessed– and for exactly the same purpose.
I also wonder if dire wolves became extinct entirely or if they contributed genes to modern wolves, dogs, and coyotes. If they contributed to Native American dogs, then they are likely lost, but if they contributed to wolves or coyotes, they could still have some traces of their dire wolf ancestry. I am assuming, as is most likely from observing their modern relatives, that dire wolves were fully fertile with both Canis lupus and Canis latrans.
I have not seen any comparative studies of dire wolf dna of any sort with those of modern members of the genus Canis. Most studies on dire wolf taxonomy glean their analysis from comparative morphology– which is quite a dubious undertaking when we’re dealing with the dog family (see the red wolf debacle!)
So there are these questions.
And the fact that we have some evidence that Clovis people domesticated dire wolves is certainly intriguing.
***
The animal featured in the image above isn’t a domesticated dire wolf.
No.
It’s actually a recreated dire wolf, which is the American Alsatian breed.
Derived from mostly German shepherd stock, its breeders have tried to turn it into something like a dire wolf in phenotype.
I saw a mention of this on Steve’s blog, from Reid. I could not find anything else about it except the FB thing.
Interesting speculation Scotty–I look forward to follow-ups.
In re the possibility of remnant C. dirus DNA in existing native Canis populations, I suspect that cross-breeding was less likely than it would be w/ different species of genus Homo, its more than possible. That wud suggest to me that anybody seeking to recreate C. dirus, might want to start w/ the N. American wolf rather GSDs.
Speaking of that, you said the American Alsatian is “Derived from mostly German shepherd stock, its breeders have tried to turn it into something like a dire wolf in phenotype.”
I’ll bet it suffers from some of the same problems the other “giant” breeds do. Rather than being representative of a large evolved species, these dogs (including my beloved Saints) are genetic anomalies of canis lupus familiaris. They exhibit an inherited (thru selective breeding) form of gigantism, with many/all of the physiological problems associated with that condition–including a shortened lifespan. The actual Canis dirus would presumably, like other naturally large species, not have suffered from these problems.
It’s also quite low in genetic diversity.
Most of these big, sweet German shepherd derivatives are.
The Shiloh shepherd id the best example.
But at leas the specimen pictured doesn’t appear to have the Hyena build preferred by most modern GSD breeders. Maybe they could use it for some judicious outcrossing. I would love to see a return of the classic GSD.
The “classic” GSD still exists in working lines. Unfortunately the popular sire effect is at work there too, (and overbreeding for drive to where some are not suitable as companion animals) but they’re not hyena faced hock walkers, at least.
I just emailed you a copy of Saunders paper. I don’t have a strong enough biology background to comment much on this, but Saunders does cite a fairly recent article that might answer some of your questions on where dire wolves fit in with modern canids.
Tedford, Richard H., Xiaoming Wang, and Beryl E. Taylor. 2009.
Phylogenetic Systematics of the North American Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae).
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 325: 1-218.
Thanks so much for the paper!
I wonder if I might trouble you for a copy of that paper as well. I am a future breeder of the American uAlsatian, with special interest in the idea of domesticated Dire Wolves. We have over come most health issues, of giant bvreeds, and will not use Canis Lupus as temperament of a companion dog is utmost importance.
I look forward to you seeing a copy of that paper. Canids are canids. They all seem to have some flexibility about their associations.
[…] We might even find genetic material dire wolf or other extinct Canis species in domestic dogs, especially if we’re looking at DNA samples from ancient dogs. (There is some evidence that dire wolves were domesticated by the Clovis people.) […]
The closest thing today to a dire wolf would be the giant Canadian grey wolf. They can get up to 180lbs.