The first wolves to fare beg for scraps at a campfire set in motion a chain of events that finally conduct to the creation of chihuahuas , pugs , and a range of otherun - wolf - like andiron strain . According to one popular theory , this fatefulrendezvous between canids and humanstook place around 15,000 years ago in a cave in innovative - day Germany , although the authors of an as - yet un - match - reviewed study have now challenged this idea .
Back in 2021 , researchers published an psychoanalysis of large canid fossils found in the Gnirshöhle cave in southwesterly Germany . Intriguingly , the ivory were located within a site that was occupy by humans during the Magdalenian point , which extended from just about 16,000 to 14,000 years ago .
This contribute the field author to wonder whether the heavy creatures dwell with homo , thus making them theearliest know examples of domesticated canines . unluckily , however , neither mitochondrial DNA nor a morphometric analysis of the fauna ’ tooth could shape whether they were blackguard or wolf .
The researchers therefore used isotopic data from the ancient animals ’ collagen to try and reconstruct their dieting . Noting that they appeared to have consumed less protein than wildwolves , the field of study authors mull that the Gnirshöhle canids may have been largely fed by humans .
However , revisit the analysis present two years ago , the source of the new preprint hint that the original “ paper is essentially flawed and excluded available relevant data . ” For model , they say that the isotopic value pose suggest that the Gnirshöhle Wolf could well have consumed the same dieting as their wild equivalents .
The issue , they say , is that different wolf populations can have dissimilar trophic enrichment factor ( TEF ) value , which essentially means that they record different isotopic signatures from their prey . To rebuild an fauna ’s diet from isotopic data , it ’s therefore necessary to know the creature ’s TEF .
However , because the correct TEF for the Gnirshöhle wolves is unsung , the study writer say the idea that they were fed by man requires “ a major leap of trust . ”
In the final section of their review , the researchers slam the writer of the 2021 subject field for making a “ tacit assumption ” that the Gnirshöhle animals were hound rather than wolves , despite a complete deficiency of evidence to support this call . However , it ’s deserving aim out that the original paper never states that the animals were dogs , and the authors were in fact careful to point out that , based on their data , “ an assignment of the canid as click or wolves can not be uniquely performed . ”
Thus , while many of the points raised in the young newspaper do muddy the musical theme that humans were domesticating Wolf at the Gnirshöhle cave , the authors doubtlessly go a small heavily in their criticisms . Perhaps they ask to call off the dogs .
The unpublished preprint , which has not been validated by peer review , can be found onbioRxiv .
