Dogs may have domesticated themselves because they liked snacks, model suggests

Scientists don't know exactly how wolves were domesticated into early dogs , but it's possible that they domesticated themselves by choosing to coexist with humans so that, a new study finds, they could be fed consistently. Then, these snackish canines likely selected mates that did the same. While the theory is nothing new , the new research shows it's statistically possible for the wolves to have driven their own domestication into dogs through natural selection . Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that dogs (Canis familiaris) are descended from gray wolves (Canis lupus) and became domesticated over two historical periods: between about 30,000 and 15,000 years ago when wild wolves were domesticated into early dogs , then from around 15,000 years ago to the modern era when these dogs became differentiated into breeds. These periods of domestication were driven by different evolutionary forces, according to a new study published Feb. 12 in the journal Proceedings of the Roy ... Read full article.