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Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t judge a dog by its breed.
After a group of researchers conducted owner surveys for 18,385 dogs and sequenced the genomes of 2,155 dogs, Various findings in the journal Science on ThursdayIncluding predicting some dog behaviors, the breed is essentially useless and not very good for most. For example, one of the clearest findings from the huge, multi-faceted study is that breed has no discernible effect on a dog’s reactions to something they find new or strange.
This behavior is related to what non-scientists might call aggression and casts doubt on breed stereotypes of aggressive dogs like pit bulls. One of the things pit bulls rated highly was human sociability, which should come as no surprise to those who have seen videos of lap-loving pit bulls online. On the other hand, Labrador retriever ancestry did not seem to have a meaningful relationship with human sociability.
This does not mean that there is no difference between races or that race cannot predict certain things. Elinor Karlsson, a canine genomics expert at the Broad Institute and University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and author of the report, said that if you adopt a Border collie, it will be easier to train and to develop an interest in toys. It will be higher than if you embraced the Great Pyrenees.”
But for any dog you don’t know – on average, the breed accounts for only 9 percent of the variations in any dog’s behavior. Neither behavior was restricted to any particular breed, even howling, although the study found that the behavior was more strongly associated with breeds like Siberian huskies than with other dogs.
Yet, although it may seem contradictory at first glance, the researchers also found that behavioral patterns are strongly inherited. The behaviors they studied had a 25 percent heritability; this was a complex measurement that showed the influence of genes but was dependent on the group of animals studied. But when there are enough dogs, heredity is a good measure of what is hereditary. When comparing entire genomes, they found several genes that clearly influence behavior, including how friendly the dogs are.
The meaning of the study dates back to the 19th century, when canine behaviors were strongly inherited, but the genes that shape whether your dog is friendly, aggressive or aloof were created in most modern breeds, such as those recognized by the American Kennel Club. . Since then breeding has been primarily for physical traits.
Kathryn Lord, also an evolutionary biologist at the Broad Institute and University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, and co-author of the paper, said, “Short-haired German pointers were slightly more likely to point, or slightly more likely to catch golden retrievers or Siberians. was higher,” he said. huskies will howl.”
But beware of the buyer or dog adopter. Dr. “I’ve known non-receiving retrievers as well as calling Labradors and pointing Papillons and retriever hounds,” Lord said.
The findings likely stemmed from the director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. It won’t surprise people who work closely with dogs like Cynthia Otto. Not included in the report, Dr. Otto said the study “made perfect sense to me. I think there are some big picture behavioral traits that are more common in some breeds than others, but individual variation is very high within a breed.
For example, she said breeders prefer Border collies that are easier to train, which may explain why they are easier to train. However, he added, “Certainly in Border collies — there’s still great individual variation.”
Dr. Karlsson said research for the new study began about eight years ago, and the main goal was to compare the genomes of dogs with those of the breed, called a genome-wide association study, to look for areas of DNA or genes associated with genes. certain behaviors.
Kathleen Morrill, who is also co-author of the paper with the Broad Institute and Chan Medical School, said the study has been a huge strength for many mixed-breed dogs, or what the authors and you might call mutts.
“Mutts were actually the perfect breed of dog for unraveling the connections between breed and behavior,” he said, because their DNA is so messy that it’s easier to separate appearances from behavior.
“This is one of the first papers to do truly impressive canine genomic studies using mixed-breed dogs,” said Evan Maclean, director of the Center for Canine Cognition at Arizona at the University of Arizona, who was not involved in the study. These dogs have enough diversity to make genetic comparisons stronger, he said, but have been excluded from many previous studies. “And this paper shows just how valuable these populations can be,” he added.
The researchers found 11 specific DNA regions associated with behavior. Although the researchers are only scratching the surface of the relationship between the genomes of both species, this finding could aid the study of human genomics. For example, one region that affects a dog’s likelihood of howling is associated with language development in humans. And there is a region of human DNA that is associated with long-term memory, linked to enjoyment of being around people.
Contrary to most scientific research, any dog owner can help with this project.
Researchers have A wealth of information from Darwin’s Ark, Dr. A project created by Karlsson and colleagues by asking owners of any breed or dog to submit DNA samples of their dogs and answer questionnaires. They are still looking for more dogs.
Dr. “Anyone from anywhere in the world can sign up,” Karlsson said.
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