This timing indicates
This timing indicates that the dog was the first species to be domesticated[8][7] in the time of hunter–gatherers,[6] which predates agriculture.[1] DNA sequences show that all ancient and modern dogs share a common ancestry and descended from an ancient,
extinct wolf population which was distinct from the modern wolf lineage.[5][6] Most dogs form a sister group to the remains of a Late Pleistocene wolf found in the Kessleroch cave near Thayngen in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, which dates to
14,500 years ago. The most recent common ancestor of both is estimated to be from 32,100 years ago.[26] This indicates that an extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog,[7][1][27] with the modern wolf being the dog’s nearest living relative.[7]
The dog is a classic example of a domestic animal that likely traveled a commensal pathway into domestication.[25][28] The questions of when and where dogs were first domesticated have taxed geneticists and archaeologists for decades.[8] Genetic studies suggest a domestication process commencing over 25,000 years ago, in one or several wolf populations in either Europe, the high Arcti
c, or eastern Asia.[10] In 2021, a literature review of the current evidence infers that the dog was domesticated in Siberia 23,000 years ago by ancient North Siberians, then later dispersed eastward into the Americas and westward across Eurasia.[23]
