According to a study published January 16 in the journal iScience, a minority of wolf pups are willing and able to play fetch with "strange" humans.
Let's unpack this odd finding.
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| Photo by Christina Hansen Wheat |
Basically what it means is that several wolf pups, among a group of 13, displayed a level of reactivity and attention to random humans such that they were willing and able to return thrown balls in a way that necessarily indicates an understanding, on their part, of the intent of said strangers.
Why it matters; both anthropologists and biologists have long wondered how wolves and anatomically modern homo sapiens managed to come together to form the iconic partnership of "man/woman and dog."
It's long been supposed that especially tolerant, observant (in terms of human body language and vocals) and willingly cooperative wolves were selected for over time by various hunting and gathering populations with which they came into contact, and that eventually said populations, through selective breeding, evolved into modern dogs.
This study matters because it supports at least one component of the above hypothesis --that certain wolves are more attentive to, and willing to cooperate with, humans-- and by extension lends further credence to the greater narrative. This in turn matters because it helps us understand the larger context of canid/human evolution and by doing so sheds more light on the long and often troubled relationship between humans and wolves.
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Related Links:
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(19)30557-7
http://www.cell.com/iscience
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