Abstract
Dogs (Canis familiaris) are the first animals to be domesticated by humans and the only ones domesticated by mobile hunter-gatherers. Wolves and humans were both persistent, pack hunters of large prey. They were species competing over resources in partially overlapping ecological niches and capable of killing each other. How could humans possibly have domesticated a competitive species? Here we present a new hypothesis based on food/resource partitioning between humans and incipient domesticated wolves/dogs. Humans are not fully adapted to a carnivorous diet; human consumption of meat is limited by the liver’s capacity to metabolize protein. Contrary to humans, wolves can thrive on lean meat for months. We present here data showing that all the Pleistocene archeological sites with dog or incipient dog remains are from areas that were analogous to subarctic and arctic environments. Our calculations show that during harsh winters, when game is lean and devoid of fat, Late Pleistocene hunters-gatherers in Eurasia would have a surplus of animal derived protein that could have been shared with incipient dogs. Our partitioning theory explains how competition may have been ameliorated during the initial phase of dog domestication. Following this initial period, incipient dogs would have become docile, being utilized in a multitude of ways such as hunting companions, beasts of burden and guards as well as going through many similar evolutionary changes as humans.
Highlights
Humans and wolves belong to the highly competitive large carnivore g uild[1,2]
Human populations in Eurasia during the LGM would have relied on an animal-based diet during the exceptionally harsh winters
To test if humans and wolves could co-exist without competition over resources, we calculated the left over energy for the main prey available to wolves during the Late Pleistocene and Early
Summary
Humans and wolves belong to the highly competitive large carnivore g uild[1,2]. When resources/game are abundant, different species of carnivores may tolerate each other in a sympatric relationship in which top carnivores provide carcasses for other guild members to scavenge. Human populations in Eurasia during the LGM would have relied on an animal-based diet during the exceptionally harsh winters. Modern human populations have means to avoid excessive amounts of animal protein in their diet by shifting their exploitation strategies toward fauna retaining higher levels of fat deposits such as fish and bear and avoiding lean meat[21].
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