American Dogs Ancestry

American Dogs Ancestry - Research has challenged the idea that dogs already present in the Americas when Europeans arrived were swamped by animals brought in by the settlers.

The genetic study suggests modern breeds from the Americas largely trace their ancestry to dogs brought to the continent from Asia by native peoples.

It establishes a native Mexican origin for the popular Chihuahua – proposed by some to have recent roots in China.

Details appear in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

“Our results confirm that American dogs are a remaining part of the indigenous American culture, which underscores the importance of preserving these populations,” he said.

Peter Savolainen, from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues compared mitochondrial DNA from Asian and European dogs, ancient archaeological samples from the Americas, and American dog breeds.

These breeds included Chihuahuas, Peruvian hairless dogs and Arctic sled dogs.

They traced the American dogs’ ancestries back to East Asian and Siberian dogs, and also found direct genetic links between ancient American dogs and modern breeds.