Scientists: The dog became man's best friend much earlier than previously thought
DNA analysis of ancient remains found in the English county of Somerset showed that dogs became human companions much earlier than agricultural animals appeared or cats were domesticated.
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DNA analysis showed that a jawbone found in Somerset, in the southwest of England, belonged to one of the earliest known domesticated dogs, and that people in Britain lived in close contact with them 15,000 years ago — thousands of years before cats appeared in our homes or farm animals were domesticated, writes the channel «De facto. Belarusian Science».
This discovery shifts the timeline of the evolution of the first dogs from their wolf ancestors by approximately 5,000 years, according to the BBC. According to Dr. William Marsh from the Natural History Museum, it also shows that the friendship between the very first dogs and Stone Age humans existed almost from the very beginning.
The first dogs were descendants of grey wolves that lived near human settlements at the end of the Ice Age, feeding on food scraps. Over time, people began to use them for hunting and protection.