Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters

Abstract Dogs (Canis familiaris) are the first animals to be domesticated by humans and the only ones domesticated by mobile hunter-gatherers. Wolves and humans were both persistent, pack hunters of large prey. They were species competing over resources in partially overlapping ecological niches and...

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Autores principales:	Maria Lahtinen, David Clinnick, Kristiina Mannermaa, J. Sakari Salonen, Suvi Viranta
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0087809b2603421386911fadd0bfa11f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0087809b2603421386911fadd0bfa11f2021-12-02T11:46:06ZExcess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters10.1038/s41598-020-78214-42045-2322https://doaj.org/article/0087809b2603421386911fadd0bfa11f2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78214-4https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Dogs (Canis familiaris) are the first animals to be domesticated by humans and the only ones domesticated by mobile hunter-gatherers. Wolves and humans were both persistent, pack hunters of large prey. They were species competing over resources in partially overlapping ecological niches and capable of killing each other. How could humans possibly have domesticated a competitive species? Here we present a new hypothesis based on food/resource partitioning between humans and incipient domesticated wolves/dogs. Humans are not fully adapted to a carnivorous diet; human consumption of meat is limited by the liver’s capacity to metabolize protein. Contrary to humans, wolves can thrive on lean meat for months. We present here data showing that all the Pleistocene archeological sites with dog or incipient dog remains are from areas that were analogous to subarctic and arctic environments. Our calculations show that during harsh winters, when game is lean and devoid of fat, Late Pleistocene hunters-gatherers in Eurasia would have a surplus of animal derived protein that could have been shared with incipient dogs. Our partitioning theory explains how competition may have been ameliorated during the initial phase of dog domestication. Following this initial period, incipient dogs would have become docile, being utilized in a multitude of ways such as hunting companions, beasts of burden and guards as well as going through many similar evolutionary changes as humans.Maria LahtinenDavid ClinnickKristiina MannermaaJ. Sakari SalonenSuvi VirantaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Maria Lahtinen David Clinnick Kristiina Mannermaa J. Sakari Salonen Suvi Viranta Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
description	Abstract Dogs (Canis familiaris) are the first animals to be domesticated by humans and the only ones domesticated by mobile hunter-gatherers. Wolves and humans were both persistent, pack hunters of large prey. They were species competing over resources in partially overlapping ecological niches and capable of killing each other. How could humans possibly have domesticated a competitive species? Here we present a new hypothesis based on food/resource partitioning between humans and incipient domesticated wolves/dogs. Humans are not fully adapted to a carnivorous diet; human consumption of meat is limited by the liver’s capacity to metabolize protein. Contrary to humans, wolves can thrive on lean meat for months. We present here data showing that all the Pleistocene archeological sites with dog or incipient dog remains are from areas that were analogous to subarctic and arctic environments. Our calculations show that during harsh winters, when game is lean and devoid of fat, Late Pleistocene hunters-gatherers in Eurasia would have a surplus of animal derived protein that could have been shared with incipient dogs. Our partitioning theory explains how competition may have been ameliorated during the initial phase of dog domestication. Following this initial period, incipient dogs would have become docile, being utilized in a multitude of ways such as hunting companions, beasts of burden and guards as well as going through many similar evolutionary changes as humans.
format	article
author	Maria Lahtinen David Clinnick Kristiina Mannermaa J. Sakari Salonen Suvi Viranta
author_facet	Maria Lahtinen David Clinnick Kristiina Mannermaa J. Sakari Salonen Suvi Viranta
author_sort	Maria Lahtinen
title	Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
title_short	Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
title_full	Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
title_fullStr	Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
title_full_unstemmed	Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters
title_sort	excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe ice age winters
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/0087809b2603421386911fadd0bfa11f
work_keys_str_mv	AT marialahtinen excessproteinenableddogdomesticationduringsevereiceagewinters AT davidclinnick excessproteinenableddogdomesticationduringsevereiceagewinters AT kristiinamannermaa excessproteinenableddogdomesticationduringsevereiceagewinters AT jsakarisalonen excessproteinenableddogdomesticationduringsevereiceagewinters AT suviviranta excessproteinenableddogdomesticationduringsevereiceagewinters
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Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters

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