The Dog Breed Closest To A Wolf
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 26 Jan 2020
People have adopted all kinds of animal friends throughout history, but dogs have always been humankind's closest companions. According to PBS, it was over 130,000 years ago that human and gray wolves first got cuddly, and while the exact origins of this mutually beneficial relationship are mysterious - it's speculated that it was actually the canines who domesticated the humans, rather than the other way around - the one thing that can't be debated is that these two strikingly different species have been buddy-buddy ever since.
That said, today's dogs are dramatically different animals than the wolves they evolved from. Have you ever seen someone carrying a wolf in a handbag? No. And that begs the question: which modern dog breed is closest to its wolf ancestors?
Hold your breath, dog lovers. According to The Nest, back in 2012, a collaborative DNA study called CanMap was conducted on 85 different dog breeds, using 1,000 individual dogs. While the results of this study were fascinating in many ways, perhaps the most amusing discovery was that the canine which had the most in common with its ol' gray wolf grandpa, was…
Wait for it… The Shiba Inu!
Yes, that's the same cute little orange fella made famous by internet memes, with its stout body and curlicue tail. Interestingly enough, the Shiba Inu is also the dog breed that is genetically closest to the fox, which might explain why they look like a fluffy fox-wolf hybrid.
Surprising as these results may be, they're also easy to misread: just because Shibas are genetically more similar to gray wolves doesn't mean that they're particularly "wolfy" when it comes to their behavior.
So which dogs actually seem the most wolfy?
Watch the video for more about The Dog Breed Closest To A Wolf!
#Dogs #ShibaInu
Wolf doge | 0:41
The Alaskan Malamute | 1:37
The problem with wolfdogs | 2:11