New Open Access Paper on Dog Origins

[Recusant]

A press release from Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan/KTH):

The origin of dogs has inspired a lingering controversy in academia. Where and when did dogs first split off from wolves? One of the top dogs in this dispute, population genetics expert Peter Savolainen of Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, isn't about to roll over. He hopes his latest research will finally settle the matter.

Some researchers say canines first split off from wolves in the Middle East; others say it happened in Europe. But Savolainen has long held that dogs originated in South East Asia alone, and he says his team has compiled new evidence that confirms his earlier findings.

The study concludes that 33,000 years ago, dogs descended from grey wolves that likely came from China.

Savolainen's earlier studies were based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA. But recently other researchers have used data from nuclear DNA to refute those findings, arguing that dogs originated in the Middle East, Central Asia or Europe.

But apparently, those researchers were thrown off the scent, according to Savolainen. The data they relied on did not include samples from South East Asia, he says. So if, as Savolainen says, dogs did indeed come from South East Asia, these studies would not have been able to detect it.

"Which is why we analysed the entire nuclear genome of a global sample collection from 46 dogs, which includes samples from southern China and South East Asia," he says. "We then found out that dogs from South East Asia stand out from all other dog populations, because they have the highest genetic diversity and are genetically closest to the wolf."

[Continues . . .]

The full paper--"Out of southern East Asia: the natural history of domestic dogs across the world" | Cell Research

Abstract:

The origin and evolution of the domestic dog remains a controversial question for the scientific community, with basic aspects such as the place and date of origin, and the number of times dogs were domesticated, open to dispute. Using whole genome sequences from a total of 58 canids (12 gray wolves, 27 primitive dogs from Asia and Africa, and a collection of 19 diverse breeds from across the world), we find that dogs from southern East Asia have significantly higher genetic diversity compared to other populations, and are the most basal group relating to gray wolves, indicating an ancient origin of domestic dogs in southern East Asia 33 000 years ago. Around 15 000 years ago, a subset of ancestral dogs started migrating to the Middle East, Africa and Europe, arriving in Europe at about 10 000 years ago. One of the out of Asia lineages also migrated back to the east, creating a series of admixed populations with the endemic Asian lineages in northern China before migrating to the New World. For the first time, our study unravels an extraordinary journey that the domestic dog has traveled on earth.

[Icarus]

Why the dog became a friend to man remains a mystery. At some point in time, humans recognized that the dog was useful for a variety of pursuits. It is probable that dogs were used as a friendly consumer of carrion before they became shepherd dogs, guardians, or hunting companions.

The domestic dog was used to consume human corpses, encouraged to do so as a matter of religious persuasion.. Dogs will eat anything as you may know. In ancient Egypt, in a simultaneously pragmatic and religious switch, the jackal dog became a god Anubis, friend of the dead. Anubis was a protector, not a predator of the deceased in their tombs.

We have a few historical accounts that reveal that the ancient Bactrians (now Afghanistan) and the Hircanians ( part of the Persian empire)  handled the canid propensity for eating dead people with appreciation . Those dogs canes sepulchrales received the greatest care and attention because it was deemed proper that the souls of the deceased should have strong and lusty frames to dwell in. Mortal dogs receive a striking degree of attention in the Zoaroastrian holy texts. They likened the dog to fire, both protective and destructive.

The funerary rites for Zoroastrians was called sagdid which means "seen by the dog.  The dog was important because he would not be harmed by Nasu. the demon who was the bringer of putrefaction.

You did not need or want to know that stuff did you?

[Recusant]

As far as I'm concerned it was a welcome cultural addition to the bare bones science in the OP.