A new study revealed that dogs came to America around 10,000 years ago. The study also suggests the first people who migrated to U.S. likely didn't take their dogs along.

The findings state that dogs are considered the earliest organism able to migrate along with people into different continents. Dogs can be one of the most powerful tools when it comes to observing how human populations have changed over time.

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There were 84 sets of dog remains gathered from a dozen sites both in the North and South America. The study authors believe this could be one of the largest analysis ever recorded of ancient dogs in the United States.

The study focused on the mitochondrial DNA and included even larger dog samples that were used and analyzed before. It discovered that dogs have similarities with American wolves. The result shows it was possible that ancient dogs interbred with or were domesticated from American wolves.

Included in the study was a glimpse of how humans valued dogs. Dog remains were buried properly, showing that people long ago showed special respect for dogs.

The mystery for many is why some dogs were placed back-to-back and buried in pairs while some were buried individually.

The findings were published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

Tagsdog migration, ancient dogs, American wolves, dog breeding, human migration