...and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them,... Jeremiah 5:6
"Darwin’s branching “tree of life” diagram made for a nice, simple, easy-to-understand, convenient myth. It has sent scientists on a wild tree chase ever since.
New Genetic Research Shows Extent of Cross-Breeding between Wild Wolves and Domestic Dogs across Europe and Asia (University of Lincoln). Did dogs ‘evolve’ from wolves? Could the history of the dog family be used as evidence for Darwinian evolution? This study from the University of Lincoln (UK) shows tangled branches in the phylogenetic tree between wolves and domestic dogs.
That wolves can interbreed with dogs is well-documented, and yet wolves retain their outward
identity. Is there such a thing as a ‘pure’ wolf? Dr Malgorzata Pilot, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Lincoln, said:
"Darwin’s branching “tree of life” diagram made for a nice, simple, easy-to-understand, convenient myth. It has sent scientists on a wild tree chase ever since.
New Genetic Research Shows Extent of Cross-Breeding between Wild Wolves and Domestic Dogs across Europe and Asia (University of Lincoln). Did dogs ‘evolve’ from wolves? Could the history of the dog family be used as evidence for Darwinian evolution? This study from the University of Lincoln (UK) shows tangled branches in the phylogenetic tree between wolves and domestic dogs.
The results suggest that wolf-dog hybridisation has been geographically widespread in Europe and Asia and has been occurring for centuries. The phenomenon is seen less frequently in wild wolf populations of North America.
That wolves can interbreed with dogs is well-documented, and yet wolves retain their outward
“Our research highlighted that some individual wolves which had been identified as ‘pure wolves’ according to their physical characteristics were actually shown to be of mixed ancestry. On the other hand, two Italian wolves with an unusual, black coat colour did not show any genetic signatures of hybridisation, except for carrying a dog-derived variant of a gene linked to dark colouration. This suggests that the definition of genetically ‘pure’ wolves can be ambiguous and identifying admixed individuals can be difficult, implying that management strategies based on removal of suspected hybrids from wolf populations may be inefficient.”The situation appears analogous to Neanderthals interbreeding with “modern humans.” Wolves are classified as a different species." CEH
