reverse evolution of dogs

[wonder9]

I was watching a small pug dog struggle to breathe the other day, thinking how awful it was the people have bred such uncomfortable traits into the noble dog, when a thought occurred to me. If humans kept their slimy mitts off of dogs, had absolutely nothing to do with when and with what dogs mated, how long would it take to undo 12,000 years of genetic manipulation? In other words, how long would it take for the multiple dog breeds to all revert to the original, proto-dog first domesticated by humans? Another 12,000 years? 100 years? Any thoughts?

[yabob]

I’ve heard commentary that feral dog populations converge into striking uniformity within just a few generations. Whether that result bears any resemblance to a prototypical ancestor is another question entirely. I would also wonder how much of the effect is the average outcome of random recombination, and how much is the outcome of selection.

BTW, I’m with you on the more extreme crap we’ve done to the poor animal. There’s a number of breeds which should not be bred any more - they are just too ridiculous, and it’s cruel to the animal to saddle it with features that are barely functional for the sake of novelty.

[MrVisible]

I heard on the recent PBS Dogs special that it only takes two or three generations of dogs living without human breeding supervision for a stray dog population to homogenize into what I suppose can be termed a proto-dog.

Hey, I got a cite…

Whatever a particular dog looked like, wild dogs allowed to breed at random among themselves, eventually look quite similar; a medium-sized, shorthaired dog with a tightly curled tail and sharp ears.

From PBS, an impeccable source. Probaby.

[black_rabbit]

This is pure speculation, but I imagine that there are certain proto-dog traits have been eliminated from the current gene pool entirely, making true devolution impossible.

Good thing I’ve got yeti in me come X Day…

[MrDeath]

“Proto-dog?”

You know what a proto-dog is?

A wolf.

The evidence is so overwhelming now, that the taxonomic name for the domestic dog is no longer canis familiaris, but canis lupus familiaris.

This link has further discussion, including the following:

At present there is no way to distinguish between wolves and domestic dogs, or any crosses between these forms on the basis of molecular or chromosomal evidence.

[Northern_Piper]

there was a good article on this question in a back-issue of the Smithsonian magazine: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues99/mar99/dogs.html

[Badtz_Maru]

*Originally posted by MrDeath *
**“Proto-dog?”

You know what a proto-dog is?

A wolf.

The evidence is so overwhelming now, that the taxonomic name for the domestic dog is no longer canis familiaris, but canis lupus familiaris.

This link has further discussion, including the following:

At present there is no way to distinguish between wolves and domestic dogs, or any crosses between these forms on the basis of molecular or chromosomal evidence.

**

I read that canis familiaris might have some non-wolf ancestors as well.