As in without human influences? On the islands of the Bahamas, we call the mix breeds or feral dogs as potcakes.
Usually these dogs, despite being an assortment of colors, are in the 30-50 lb range. If there were no outside influences, can they become a breed? or does it have to be standardized or look pretty?
They are usually called species.
From Merriam-Webster’s Online Richardsnary:
Main Entry: 1spe·cies
Pronunciation: 'spE-(")shEz, -(")sEz
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural species
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, appearance, kind, species, from specere to look – more at SPY
Date: 14th century
1 a : KIND, SORT b : a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name; specifically : a logical division of a genus or more comprehensive class c : the human race : human beings – often used with the <survival of the species in the nuclear age> d (1) : a category of biological classification ranking immediately below the genus or subgenus, comprising related organisms or populations potentially capable of interbreeding, and being designated by a binomial that consists of the name of a genus followed by a Latin or latinized uncapitalized noun or adjective agreeing grammatically with the genus name (2) : an individual or kind belonging to a biological species e : a particular kind of atomic nucleus, atom, molecule, or ion
Well Zenster, he wasn’t asking about species. In fact, what he (sorry if I got the gender wrong) is asking about is called, in dogs, a breed.
That said, a breed is as arbitrary a categorization as a species–arguably moreso because there’s really no science involved.
It’s a breed, Dalchini, if someone convinces one of the dog-breeding governing associations to recognize it as a breed. Until then, they’re mutts.
Well, there are a few “breeds” accepted the AKC and other breeders’ organizations that have developed in the wild, such as the canaan dog, the dingo, and the carolina dog.
Notice how similar they all look with the erect ears, medium length coat and narrow muzzle.
The dingo is indisputably not a breed that developed in the wild. Dingoes were introduced to Australia in their present form C5000 ya. They were a true breeding form then and they still exists throughout SE Asia as well as Australia. They are a domestic breed that has gone feral and bred true to type, not a breed that developed in the wild.
The origins of the Carolina dog are open to speculation, but it’s most probable that they too are a feral domestic breed, and not a breed that developed in the wild.
The Canaan dog is not a true breeding wild form. It is a very, very recent (as in late 20th century) breed, a breed developed from the Paraiah dogs found throughout Western Asia and India. The pariah dogs themselves are not true breeding in most areas, and in those areas where they are, primarily the subcontinent, there is no reason to assume they are other than a feral breed.
Now to the OP. A breed doesn’t have to look pretty to be recognised as a breed. Ever seen an English bull terrier? However a breed does need to breed true to some standard. The amount of leeway for a standard varies between breeds, with some having several colours, coat lengths or even occuring in normal and ‘dachshund’ leg varieties. However there has to be a consistency in breeding, which effectively means that the vast majority of offspring of two purebred animals must fall within breed standard.
If a feral population were isolated for long enough with no new genes inserted it would eventually produce at least one consistent breed. Environmental pressures selevting for an ‘ideal’ phenotype would pretty much garauntee this. The only question is whether this would happen before the animals became a separate species or not.
I don’t know of any examples of mixed breed feral packs forming true breeding strains in the wild, and it would be hard for this to happen. Typically most pre-agricutural people only had one type of dog: a generic hunting/eating breed such as the dingo since this was the only use for dogs amongst hunter-gatherers. It was only after the development of agriculture and permanant setlements that there was an impetus for different breeds to develop as herders, guards etc. Oustide the Americas and New Guinea agricultural people have had a very low opinion of feral dogs because they were kept flocks/herds. There would be very little chance for a truly self-sustaining feral escapee pack to develop, particularly in the face of competition from wild canids as well as human persecution. With large numbers of deaths, a less efficient genotype than wild canids and costant outrcrossing with domestic strays and new feral recruits the feral breed could never stabilise.
As others have suggested, there is a theory that the Carolina dog is a pre-European feral dog population that has effectively produced a breed. The only problem with this theory is that there is scant knowledge of what Native American domesticates looked like in that part of the world. From the descriptions we have it seems likely that the Carolina dog is, like the Dingo, a primitive domestic breed that has gone feral and has bred true to form.