A new scientific research report has found strong evidence suggesting that man's best friend originated from China some 33,000 years ago.

The study, the findings of which were published in the science journal Cell Research, found that Chinese indigenous dogs represent an intermediate form between wolves and breed dogs, and that they have not experienced intense artificial selection.

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"Analyses of Chinese indigenous dogs therefore allow us to stratify the domestication process in dogs, and investigate the role of positive selection that occurred specifically during the first stage of domestication," said the report.

The researchers also found that the southern Chinese indigenous dogs together with several East Asian dogs, such as the Chow or Shar Pei, are closest to wolves

The history of dog domestication is often depicted as a two-stage process where primitive dogs were first domesticated from their wild ancestors, the gray wolves. In the second stage, the primitive forms were further selected to form many dog breeds with specialized abilities.

The researchers collected the genome sequences of 58 canids from across the world, including samples from Europe, Africa, southern and northern parts of East Asia, the Middle East, Siberia and the Americas. They found that after evolving for several thousand years in East Asia, a subgroup of dogs radiated out of southern East Asia about 15,000 years ago to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

"One of these out of Asia lineages then migrated back to northern China and made a series of admixtures with endemic East Asian lineages, before traveling to the Americas," said the researchers. "Our study, for the first time, reveals the extraordinary journey that the domestic dog has traveled on this planet during the past 33,000 years."

However, the researchers acknowledged that several basic aspects about the dog's origin and evolution are still debated over by scientists. For example, several different geographical regions have been proposed as the birthplace of domestic dogs, and the date of divergence between wolves and dogs has been estimated between 32,000 years ago and 10,000 years ago, according to the report.

"The exact history of dog domestication thus remains to be fully resolved."

TagsMan’s Best Friend Came From China, A new scientific research report, Chinese indigenous dogs, Cell Research, genetic investigation, geographical origin of dogs