From chihuahuas to great Danes, dogs differ more in size than any other mammal species on the planet. A mutation behind such variation has been traced to an unexpected source: ancient wolves.
The mutation lies near a gene called IGF1, which researchers flagged 15 years ago as having a major role in the size variation of domestic dogs. It was the first of around two dozen such genes identified. But efforts to pinpoint the gene variant responsible had come up empty.
Ostrander and colleagues including geneticist Jocelyn Plassais at INSERM-University of Rennes, France, analysed the genomes of more than 1,400 canids, including ancient dogs, wolves, coyotes and 230 modern dog breeds. When the researchers looked at the genomes of other canids, they found a similar relationship. “This wasn’t just a dog story. This was a wolf story and a fox story and a coyote story and everything story. It was canine-wide,” says Ostrander.
The prevailing view among scientists used to be that small body size was probably linked to relatively new genetic changes, potentially unique to domestic dogs, says Robert Wayne, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “This turns the whole story on its head. That’s what’s marvellous about the whole thing.”
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