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Ancient wolf lineages in India.

Dinesh K Sharma1, Jesus E Maldonado, Yadrendradev V Jhala

  • 1Wildlife Institute of India, Postbox 18, Dehradun 248001, India.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|April 23, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Ancient wolf (Canis lupus) mitochondrial DNA lineages discovered in India and the Himalayas suggest deep evolutionary divergence. These distinct wolf lineages show no evidence of contributing to dog (Canis familiaris) domestication.

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Area of Science:

  • Genetics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Zoology

Background:

  • Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris) previously studied formed a single, intertwined clade.
  • The evolutionary history and genetic diversity of wolves in the Indian subcontinent remained largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mitochondrial DNA diversity of wolves in India and the Himalayas.
  • To determine the phylogenetic relationship of these wolf populations to other canids, including dogs.
  • To assess the potential role of these wolf lineages in canid domestication.

Main Methods:

  • Sequencing of mitochondrial DNA from 45 lowland Indian wolves and 23 wolves from the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau.
  • Comparison of obtained sequences with all available wolf and dog mtDNA sequences.

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  • Phylogenetic analysis to establish evolutionary relationships.

    • Main Results:

    • Discovery of a unique, divergent sister lineage to the wolf-dog clade in lowland Indian wolves, potentially independent for over 400,000 years.
    • Identification of a distinct basal clade in Himalayan wolves, possibly diverging over 800,000 years ago.
    • No haplotypes from these novel lineages were found in Indian dogs, indicating no contribution to dog domestication.

    Conclusions:

    • The Indian subcontinent harbors at least three ancient, divergent, and parapatric mtDNA lineages within the wolf species.
    • These findings challenge previous understandings of wolf and dog evolutionary relationships.
    • Current evidence does not support a role for these specific Indian wolf lineages in the domestication of dogs.