Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the estimated global dog population in 2013?
What is the estimated global dog population in 2013?
What is the reason for inbreeding depression in dogs?
What is the reason for inbreeding depression in dogs?
What is the main health risk associated with dog feces in humans?
What is the main health risk associated with dog feces in humans?
Study Notes
The Domesticated Canid Species: A Comprehensive Overview of Dogs
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Dogs are domesticated descendants of the wolf, originating from extinct Pleistocene wolves, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative.
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They were the first species to be domesticated by hunter-gatherers over 15,000 years ago before the development of agriculture.
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Dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals and gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.
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Dogs have been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes, resulting in around 450 globally recognized dog breeds.
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Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color, and perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and the military, companionship, therapy, and aiding disabled people.
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The dog is a classic example of a domestic animal that likely travelled a commensal pathway into domestication.
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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.
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Dogs possess distinct traits related to morphology, which include body size, skull shape, tail phenotype, fur type, and colour, and their behavioural traits include guarding, herding, and hunting, retrieving, and scent detection.
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Most dogs naturally have 26 vertebrae in their tails, but some with naturally short tails have as few as three, and the dog's skull has identical components regardless of breed type, but there is significant divergence in terms of skull shape between types.
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Dogs are vulnerable to some of the same health conditions as humans, including diabetes, dental and heart disease, epilepsy, cancer, hypothyroidism, and arthritis, and are susceptible to parasites such as fleas, ticks, mites, hookworms, tapeworms, roundworms, and heartworms.
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Neutering reduces problems caused by hypersexuality, especially in male dogs, and spayed female dogs are less likely to develop cancers affecting the mammary glands, ovaries, and other reproductive organs.
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Inbreeding depression is considered to be due mainly to the expression of homozygous deleterious recessive mutations, and outcrossing between unrelated individuals, including dogs of different breeds, results in the beneficial masking of deleterious recessive mutations in progeny.
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Behavioral scientists have uncovered a surprising set of social-cognitive abilities in domestic dogs, and these abilities are not possessed by the dog's closest canine relatives or other highly intelligent mammals, such as great apes, but rather parallel to children's social-cognitive skills.Overview of Dogs: Behavior, Ecology, and Roles with Humans
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Dogs have been domesticated from wolves and have genetic modifications related to tameness and emotional processing, resulting in reduced fear and aggression compared to wolves.
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Dog intelligence is demonstrated by their ability to learn by inference, advanced memory skills, and capability to read and react to human body language and voice commands.
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Dog communication includes various behaviors such as eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture, and gustatory communication.
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The global dog population in 2013 was estimated to be between 700 million to 987 million, with about 20% living as pets in developed countries and the rest being feral or communally owned in developing countries.
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Dogs' potential to compete with other large carnivores is limited by their strong association with humans, although wolves have been known to kill dogs and other predators such as coyotes and big cats have attacked dogs.
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Dogs have been described as omnivores with extra copies of genes involved in starch digestion, but they require animal flesh to obtain vitamin D and arginine to maintain nitrogen balance.
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Dogs have a long history of working with humans in various roles such as herding, hunting, rodent control, search and rescue, detection, guarding, and assisting individuals with disabilities.
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Dogs play an active role in family life, and pet dogs have become increasingly integrated and implicated in their human guardians' lives, shaping how families and homes are experienced.
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Dogs have been entered in competitions such as breed-conformation shows and sports, including racing, sledding, and agility competitions.
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Dog meat is consumed in some East Asian countries, including Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and it is estimated that 13-16 million dogs are killed and consumed in Asia every year.
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Significant dog bites affect tens of millions of people globally each year, with children in mid-to-late childhood being the largest percentage bitten by dogs and having the highest death rate.
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Dog feces can cause health risks such as toxocariasis and cutaneous larva migrans in humans.The Health Benefits and Cultural Importance of Dogs
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Dogs suffer from the same common disorders as humans and their pathology is similar to humans, making them a useful model for research related to human diseases.
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Studies on the health benefits of dogs are mixed, with some suggesting that owning a dog can enhance physical health and psychological well-being, while others criticize these studies for being poorly controlled.
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People with pet dogs exhibit better mental and physical health than those who do not, making fewer visits to the doctor and being less likely to be on medication than non-guardians.
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Pet guardianship has been associated with increased coronary artery disease survival, and people with pet dogs take considerably more physical exercise than those with cats and those without pets.
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The benefits of contact with a dog also include social support, as dogs can provide companionship and act as facilitators of social interactions between humans.
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Animal-assisted therapy with a dog can increase social behaviors among people with Alzheimer's disease and children with ADHD and conduct disorders.
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Dogs have cultural significance in many societies, symbolizing guidance, protection, loyalty, fidelity, faithfulness, alertness, and love.
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In ancient Mesopotamia, dogs were the symbol of Ninisina, the goddess of healing and medicine, and her worshippers frequently dedicated small models of seated dogs to her.
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Dogs are also associated with mythology, serving as pets or as watchdogs in Indo-European mythologies, guarding the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology, and being the vahana of Bhairava in Hindu mythology.
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Dogs represent faithfulness in Christianity, where the Dominican Order means "dog of the Lord" or "hound of the Lord."
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In Christian folklore, a church grim often takes the form of a black dog to guard Christian churches and their churchyards from sacrilege.
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Jewish law does not prohibit keeping dogs and other pets, and the view on dogs in Islam is mixed, with some schools of thought viewing it as unclean while others permit the trade and keeping of dogs as pets.
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Description
Are you a dog lover or just curious about canid species? Test your knowledge with this comprehensive quiz on dogs. From their history and domestication to their behavior, roles with humans, and cultural significance, this quiz covers it all. See how much you know about the world's most beloved companion animal and learn some new facts along the way.