Man's best friend has origins in the Middle East. Dogs are like pigs to Muslims.

What a twist this is. While I was taking a break due to severe pain, AJ the editor found this article in our local fish wrapper. Much to his delight he insisted that this get posted. I would rather have one good dog than the false friendship and lies that flow from Islam and radical Muslims. All the dogs I have had the pleasure of sharing my, our familiy's life with have been loyal, obedient(mostly),friendly except when one of the family was threatened, trustworthy and more honest than the garbage that you find in the Koran and Hadith. AJ is a Black and Tan Coonhound, Rottweiler pound puppy. Who owns who is never in doubt and who is really getting taken for a 'walk'?

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New Finding Puts Origins of Dogs in Middle East
By NICHOLAS WADE

New York Times, Borrowing methods developed to study the genetics of human disease, researchers have concluded that dogs were probably first domesticated from wolves somewhere in the Middle East, in contrast to an earlier survey suggesting dogs originated in East Asia.

This finding puts the first known domestication — that of dogs — in the same place as the domestication of plants and other animals, and strengthens the link between the first animal to enter human society and the subsequent invention of agriculture about 10,000 years ago.

A Middle Eastern origin for the dog also fits in better with the archaeological evidence, and has enabled geneticists to reconstruct the entire history of the dog, from the first association between wolves and hunter gatherers some 20,000 years ago to the creation by Victorian dog fanciers of many of today’s breeds.

A research team led by Bridgett M. vonHoldt and Robert K. Wayne of the University of California, Los Angeles, has analyzed a large collection of wolf and dog genomes from around the world. Scanning for similar runs of DNA, the researchers found that the Middle East was where wolf and dog genomes were most similar, although there was another area of overlap between East Asian wolves and dogs. Wolves were probably first domesticated in the Middle East, but after dogs had spread to East Asia there was a crossbreeding that injected more wolf genes into the dog genome, the researchers conclude in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.

The archaeological evidence supports this idea, since some of the earliest dog remains have been found in the Middle East, dating from 12,000 years ago. The only earlier doglike remains occur in Belgium, at a site 31,000 years old, and in western Russia from 15,000 years ago.

Humans lived as roaming hunters and gatherers for most of their existence. Dr. Wayne believes that wolves began following hunter-gatherer bands to feed on the wounded prey, carcasses or other refuse. At some stage a group of wolves, who happened to be smaller and less threatening than most, developed a dependency on human groups, and may in return have provided a warning system. Continue reading