Origins of Dogs

[BillT]

Some people think dogs evolved from gray wolves in Europe based upon a recent molecular genetic analysis. Others dispute this.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6160/785.full

Things to understand when reading this article:
1) The mitochondrial genome is the DNA found in mitochondria. Mitochondria are descendants of bacteria that became symbiotic with larger cells some of which eventually evolved into animals, plants, and fungi. The mitochondrial genome in quite small (about 16,000 base pairs in humans vs. a total genome size of 3 billion base pairs in humans). Mitochondria are only inherited from the mother.
2) The Y-chromosome is one of many chromosomes in the nucleus. Because it determines the male sex, it is only inherited from ad passed on to males.

I once met the guy who did the first dog genome sequence. They sequenced a female boxer because it was the most inbred dog they could find, making it easier to figure out the sequence. 70% of the boxer's two copies of each gene were identical.