A female puppy from Turkey, dating back approximately 15,800 years, has been identified as the oldest known dog, surpassing previous records by nearly 5,000 years. Discovered at the Pinarbasi rock shelter, the puppy was analyzed and found to be a few months old and likely similar in appearance to a small wolf. Researchers, including Laurent Franz from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, studied this find alongside other ancient dogs from Europe and Asia.
While the precise role of dogs in human societies during the Paleolithic era remains unclear, evidence suggests companionship was likely significant, as children may have played with puppies. The Pinarbasi site also revealed human-dog burial practices and indications that ancient humans fed fish to their dogs.
Researchers believe dogs were domesticated well before other animals and diverged from gray wolves at least 24,000 years ago. However, the complexities of differentiating between dog and wolf remains pose ongoing challenges. Additional studies have indicated ancient European dogs shared ancestry with those in Asia, hinting at a single domestication event, yet the questions surrounding the timing, location, and reasons for domestication of dogs remain largely unresolved.
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