How did we fall in love with wolves?

The process of how domesticated animals, such as dogs, came into our lives – and the bond we have with them – has been the subject of plenty of research, writes Sean T Smith

Ancestors of modern dogs may have had their origins in east Asia before spreading out into Eurasia (Getty/iStock)

We tend to think of domestication as something we do to animals. But it’s far more likely that wolves domesticated themselves. What’s more, the theory of how wolves transitioned into dogs 15,000 years ago could also illuminate how our own species underwent a similarly dramatic self-domestication process around 40,000 years earlier.

Robert J Losey, a professor of anthropology specialising in the archaeology of human-animal relationships at the University of Alberta in Canada, explains that self–domestication occurs whenever the friendliest members of a species gain an evolutionary advantage. It is believed to alter the temperament of a wild species so rapidly because animals who are less likely to react to adversity with aggression dramatically increase their chances of reproductive success.

According to Prof Losey, the ancestors of modern dogs had their origins in east Asia before spreading out into Eurasia where there was probably more intermixing with wolves in the near east. “It’s likely that intermixture gives rise to the earliest dogs in Europe at some point between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago,” he tells me.