Barking up the wrong tree: modern northern European dogs fail to explain their origin.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Geographic distribution of the genetic diversity in domestic animals, particularly mitochondrial DNA, has often been used to infer centers of domestication. The underlying presumption is that phylogeographic patterns among domesticates were established during, or shortly after the domestication. Human activities are assumed not to have altered the haplogroup frequencies to any great extent. We studied this hypothesis by analyzing 24 mtDNA sequences in ancient Scandinavian dogs. Breeds originating in northern Europe are characterized by having a high frequency of mtDNA sequences belonging to a haplogroup rare in other populations (HgD). This has been suggested to indicate a possible origin of the haplogroup (perhaps even a separate domestication) in central or northern Eu

SUBMITTER: Malmstrom H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2288593 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature