Ancient DNA traces 10,000-year journey of dogs following human migrations

KUNMING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Dogs have been humanity's loyal companions for millennia, and a new study of ancient canine DNA reveals just how deeply intertwined their histories are with ours.

An international team led by Chinese scientists has found that canine companions have been faithfully following human migrations across Eurasia for nearly 10,000 years.

They analyzed 73 ancient dog genomes, including 17 newly-sequenced individuals sampled from East Asia to the West Eurasian Steppe. Among them are ancient domestic dogs from northern China, marking the first time that their genomes have been obtained, according to the study published on Friday in the journal Science.

Both the Northeast Asian ancestry in Chinese dogs and the Western ancestry in steppe dogs mirror human migrations. Neolithic steppe dogs can be traced to Eastern European hunter-gatherers, while the latter Bronze Age dogs are linked to Iranian farmers and Caucasus hunter-gatherers, the study shows.

The research has also found that in some cases, especially where particular working or physical traits were valuable, such as in the Arctic, dogs were likely traded among populations, according to Sacha Vignieri, the magazine's editor.

The study not only confirms the millennia-old bond between humans and dogs but also mirrors the ancient connectivity of civilizations.

Such an approach can be applied to horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock, further illuminating their roles in human history, said the researchers.