Black wolves, found nearly exclusively in North America, likely inherited their coats from breeding with domestic dogs, a study published on Thursday showed.
The dogs of the earliest Native Americans or of European immigrants probably contributed to the genetic variability of their wild counterparts, researchers from Stanford University and the University of Calgary found in a study published in the journal Science.
Most canine geneticists believe that North American dogs today are all descended from European dogs, the study said.
“Although it happened by accident, black wolves are the first example of wolves being genetically engineered by people,” said study co-author Marco Musiani, a University of Calgary professor and wolf expert.
“Domestication of dogs has led to dark-colored coats in wolves, which has proven to be a valuable trait for wolf populations as their arctic habitat shrinks,” Musiani said.
A darker coat helps wolves hide when chasing their prey in forested areas, where the black wolves make up about 62 percent of the wolf population. Wolves gray with age, and coats vary from white to gray to black.
Lighter-colored wolves are more prevalent in the icy tundra, where only about 7 percent of dark wolves are found.
“I have spent a lot of time in tree-line areas at the southern edge of the tundra and it has always surprised me that there are white wolves and black wolves but no gray wolves in these areas,” Musiani said. “This work may provide an explanation: Wolf populations are quickly adapting to conditions with less snow by taking advantage of the human-created shortcut of black coloration.”
The researchers said the wolves acquired their dark coats at some point over the past 10,000 to 15,000 years, after the first humans migrated to North America across the Bering Strait with their dogs.
The study compared DNA from 41 black, gray and white wolves in the Canadian Arctic and 224 black and gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park with the DNA of domestic dogs and gray and black coyotes.
The researchers set out to explain how pigmentation in dogs differs from most other mammals, but instead discovered the genetic mutation that accounts for wolves’ pigmentation.
“Wildlife biologists don’t really think that wolves rely much on camouflage to protect themselves or to increase their hunting success,” genetics professor Greg Barsh said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS