[A genetic study shows that today’s Arctic sled dogs have
something curious in common with polar bears] [[link removed]]

HUSKY ANCESTORS STARTED HAULING SLEDS FOR HUMANS NEARLY 10,000 YEARS
AGO   [[link removed]]

 

Brian Handwerk
June 25, 2020
Smithsonian Magazine
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_ A genetic study shows that today’s Arctic sled dogs have
something curious in common with polar bears _

Greenland sled dogs at work , Markus Trienke / Wikimedia Commons

 

Modern sled dogs from across the Arctic can trace their ancestry back
to Siberia, according to a new genetic study that dovetails with
archaeological evidence. Today’s familiar breeds such as huskies and
malamutes are descended from a lineage that was well-established in
Siberia 9,500 years ago and has been critical to human survival in the
Arctic ever since.

“We know that modern sled dogs belong to a human cultural group, the
Inuit, and that is probably the common origin of the Alaskan and
Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes, and Greenland sled dogs because
those dogs are closely related,” says Mikkel-Holder Sinding,
co-author of new research published in the journal _Science_ and a
population geneticist at Trinty College, Dublin.
 
The team sequenced the genomes of 10 modern Greenland sled dogs and
compared them to not only a 9,500-year-old sled dog (represented by a
mandible found on Zokhov Island, Siberia) but also a 33,000-year-old
wolf from Siberia’s Taimyr Peninsula. Their analysis shows that the
majority of the modern Arctic sled dogs ancestry is descended from the
same distinct lineage as the 9,500-year-old Siberian dog. This is
especially true of the Greenland sled dog, which, given the relative
isolation of their home island, has the least mixture with other dog
groups and most closely represents the original ancestry.
 
Evidence of ancient genes from the 33,000-year-old Siberian wolf also
appeared in the modern dogs. Surprisingly, however evidence of North
American wolf ancestry was absent in the modern sled dogs sampled,
although the two species have lived in proximity across the Arctic for
thousands of years and share familiar physical features and howling
cries. The lack of North American wolf genes in modern sled dogs is a
puzzle, particularly because Arctic people know sled dogs do mix with
their wild relatives. Perhaps, Sinding says, dog ancestors might lie
among the many North American wolf populations that were eradicated.
 
“These Pleistocene wolves are very old, predating the domestication
of dogs, so they are not a perfect match at all for this signature we
are picking up,” Sinding says. “Who really knows what kind of wolf
diversity there was around even just a few hundred years ago?
There’s more to this story for sure.”
 

 
Greenland sled dogs (Carsten Egevang / Qimmeq)

 
A LONG LINEAGE
 

The site at Zokhov Island that yielded the 9,500-year-old sled dog
genome also includes physical evidence of sleds and harness materials
[[link removed]].
Bone analysis has led one team of scientists to suggest
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the site may represent the earliest-known evidence for dog breeding,
with sledding as a goal, and that the process may have started as long
as 15,000 years ago.

The sled dogs’ genetic history aligns with archaeological evidence.
Together, the findings suggest the dogs have been established for
nearly 10,000 years and have spent those many millennia doing the same
things they do today.

“For me, one of the most important aspects of this study is how it
shows the importance of utilizing all available data from the
archaeological record alongside the analysis of ancient genetics,”
says Carly Ameen, a zooarchaeologist at the University of Exeter.
Ameen wasn’t involved in the study but last year co-authored a
study how sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North
American Arctic
[[link removed]].

The site’s inhabitants would have had good reason to want sled dogs.
The remains of polar bears and reindeer found on Zokhov show that
hunters had a wide range and somehow transported large animal kills to
their camp. Tools suggest even wider travel. Obsidian implements
found here
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been sourced to more than 900 miles away. For ancient Arctic peoples
to cover such distances, the authors theorize, dog sledding might have
been essential.

Greenland sled dogs (Carsten Egevang / Qimmeq)

SHARED WITH THE POLAR BEARS

Sinding and colleagues also found genes that appear to be unique among
sled dogs when compared to their canine relatives. Perhaps not
surprisingly, many of the standout adaptations have to do with food.

Sled dogs, like the Arctic peoples they live with, have eaten a steady
diet of unusual fare, including fatty seal and whale blubber. The
Inuit and their dogs have evolved an ability to eat huge amounts of
fat but avoid cardiovascular disease. Their genetic solutions to this
problem are entirely different; the sled dog’s method matches
another Arctic icon, the polar bear.

“The polar bear has a very specific gene that’s selected to help
it eat unlimited amounts of blubber without getting cardiovascular
disease,” Sinding says. “We see almost exactly the same gene being
very highly selected in the dogs.”

Other adaptions found in sled dog genes seem to show coevolution with
species that are not similar yet share the same problems. The woolly
mammoth genome features highly selected thermal receptors that helped
these animals sense changes in temperature
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and the features mark a major difference between them and their
elephant kin. That same group of proteins is selected in sled dogs,
according to the study. “We have no clue why,” Sinding says.
“But given that we see it in the mammoth and now in the sled dog, it
seems to mean that this temperature sensation has some really
important role in the Arctic.”

Ameen stresses that a genetic study like this can help to illuminate
different, interesting aspects of ancient dogs—even if it hasn’t
entirely put to rest the question of how much wolf ancestry is in
their bloodlines.

“Recent attempts to discover the origins of the first domestic dogs
have been stalled by a sole focus on genetic and morphological
difference between dogs and wolves,” she says. “But when
incorporated with archaeological evidence for sledding, as well as
investigating dogs’ adaptation to new human-provided diets, a much
clearer picture of those early domestic dogs emerges.”

_BRIAN HANDWERK is a freelance writer based in Amherst, New
Hampshire._

_SMITHSONIAN magazine places a Smithsonian lens on the world, looking
at the topics and subject matters researched, studied and exhibited by
the Smithsonian Institution—science, history, art, popular culture
and innovation—and chronicling them every day for our diverse
readership. Subscribe. [[link removed]]_

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