Canine Evolution: From Wolves to Dogs in Comparison to Human Evolution

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SUMMARY

Canine evolution from wolves to domestic dogs occurred through artificial selection, significantly accelerating the process compared to human evolution. It took approximately 20,000 to 50,000 years for wolves to evolve into breeds like the Shih Tzu, while human evolution from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens spanned hundreds of thousands of years. The key factor in this disparity is the shorter generation time for dogs, which ranges from 3 to 10 years, compared to 15 to 25 years for humans. This difference in generation time and the method of selective breeding are crucial to understanding the speed of canine evolution.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of artificial selection in animal breeding
  • Knowledge of canine genetics and breed development
  • Familiarity with human evolutionary biology
  • Basic concepts of generation time in species
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the principles of artificial selection in dog breeding
  • Explore the genetic differences between wolves and domestic dogs
  • Study the timeline of human evolution from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens
  • Examine the impact of generation time on evolutionary processes
USEFUL FOR

Students of evolutionary biology, dog breeders, geneticists, and anyone interested in the comparative evolution of species.

wasteofo2
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It's commonly stated that all dogs are descended of wolves, and that it took anywhere from 20-50,000 years for a wolf to evolve into a shit-zu, yet it took hundreds of thousands of years for homo erectus to evolve into homo sapien...

Someone explain this...
 
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It is easy. Human evolution took longer because it follow a more natural course of event. The dog evolution was faster because their evolution was done by artificial selection. For example, to get a small dog you only breed the smallest dog together until you obtain the size you want. So it took less generation to obtain specific characteristic than human. Also, in term of year, a dog generation time is also smaller than human. 3-10 years for dogs and 15-25 years for human.
 
Oh man, I cannot believe i overlooked the difference in generation time, I feel really stupid now...
 

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