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The DNA evidence, published in Current Biology, also showed that modern-day Siberian Huskies (stock image) and Greenland sled dogs share an unusually large number of genes with the ancient Taimyr wolf
It was thought humans first tamed the ancestors of domestic dogs in the Ice Age, between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

But a new study has found our canine sidekicks have been our best friend for much longer.

A team of Swedish scientists discovered a divergence in the species may have occurred up to 40,000 years ago based on the genetic analysis of an ancient wolf bone.


To early humans, the first domesticated wolves were hunting companions, fighting animals and beasts of burden.

As they bred the animals, selecting those that best met their needs, the domestic and wild breeds diverged, and the animals' genetic code became less and less similar.

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A study claims dogs have been man’s best friend since between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago. They made the claim after studying the genome of an ancient and extinct Taimyr wolf. The animal's jawbone is shown
Experts previously believed this divergence happened in the Mesolithic era - at a time when humans were transforming from hunters into farmers.

But the new of research suggests the first domestic dogs may have dated back more than 20,000 years earlier, during the Late Stone Age.

Scientists from Swedish Museum of Natural History analysed the DNA of a canine bone discovered in the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia.

They believe the bone, which has been radiocarbon dated to 35,000 years ago, belonged to a domesticated wolf - in effect one of the early dogs.

Given the divergence between its DNA and wild wolves, they estimate its earliest domesticated ancestors could have lived 5,000 years before.

And they say the animal represents the most recent common ancestor of modern wolves and dogs and could have been man's best friend between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Study author Love Dalén, whose research is published in the journal Current Biology, said: 'Dogs may have been domesticated much earlier than is generally believed.

'The only other explanation is that there was a major divergence between two wolf populations at that time, and one of these populations subsequently gave rise to all modern wolves.'

But he said this second explanation less likely, since it would require that the second wolf population subsequently became extinct in the wild.

Co-author Pontus Skoglund, of Harvard Medical School in the US, added: 'It is still possible that a population of wolves remained relatively untamed but tracked human groups to a large degree, for a long time.'

The researchers made these discoveries based on a small piece of bone picked up during an expedition to the Taimyr Peninsula.

When they radiocarbon dated the bone, they realised it was a 35,000 years old.

The DNA evidence showed that modern-day Siberian Huskies and Greenland sled dogs share an unusually large number of genes with the ancient Taimyr wolf.

Dr Skoglund said: 'The power of DNA can provide direct evidence that a Siberian Husky you see walking down the street shares ancestry with a wolf that roamed Northern Siberia 35,000 years ago.

'To put that in perspective, this wolf lived just a few thousand years after Neanderthals disappeared from Europe and modern humans started populating Europe and Asia.'
THE DAZZLING DIVERSITY OF DOGS

Every breed of dog is a member of exactly the same species - Canis lupus familiaris, regardless of its coat, shape or size.

While some variation between breeds has occurred naturally, most obvious differences are the direct result of human breeding.

Many dogs are bred for their aesthetic qualities but in the past there were more practical motivations behind such intervention.

Lots of dogs were raised to be the best possible hunters, such as the dachshund, which was bred to get in to badgers' setts with their low, narrow entrances - hence its name, which means 'badger dog' in German.

One possible reason dogs are so easily adaptable is because changing their genetic code is relatively simple compared to many other species.

In human genes, for example, nearly every characteristic is governed by a complex network of genes, which work in combination to display certain outcomes.

But with dogs, many quite drastic changes, such as fur type and ear shape, are controlled by a single genetic variation.

In fact, a huge research project called CanMap determined that every single biological difference affecting dogs' appearance is controlled by one of around 50 gene variations.

This simplicity is partly a result of the human activity which has tinkered with canine biology for thousands of years, and has therefore picked out the characteristics most easily changed by simple genes.