Once a wolf :

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Once a wolf :

Title :

Once a wolf : the science behind our dogs' astonishing genetic evolution / Bryan Sykes.

Title:

Once a wolf :

Author:

Sykes, Bryan

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

xiii, 290 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First American edition.

ISBN:

9781631493799

Production / Publication Information:

New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2019]

General Note:

Reprint of: The wolf within : astonishing evolution of the wolf into man's best friend. London : William Collins, 2018.

Summary:

Reveals how all dogs share a common ancestry with a small group of domesticated wolves and how the vast range of canine breeds were created by a few gene mutations.

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language:

English

Genre:

History. (OCoLC)fst01411628

Subject Term:

Dogs -- Evolution.

Dogs -- History.

Human-animal relationships.

Wolves -- Evolution.

Dogs. (OCoLC)fst00896265

Human-animal relationships. (OCoLC)fst00963482

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	636.7 SYK	31330008790044	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	636.7/SYK	31482002866153	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	636.7/SYKES B	31479006995863	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	636.7 SYKES	32122002728503	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Littleton - Reuben Hoar Library	636.7 SYK	39965002128246	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	636.7 SYK	31481005368753	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	636.7 SYK 2018	32124001890326	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	636.7 SYK	31548003240810	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	636.7 SYK	32128003752772	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	ANIMALS / DOGS / SYK	32132003138735	Searching... Unknown

How did wolves evolve into dogs? When did this happen, and what role did humans play? Oxford geneticist Bryan Sykes used the full array of modern technology to explore the canine genetic journey that likely began when a human child decided to adopt a wolf cub thousands of years ago. In the process, he discovered that only a handful of genes have created the huge range of shapes, sizes, and colors in modern dogs. Providing scientific insight into these adaptive stages, Sykes focuses attention on our own species, and how our own evolution from (perhaps equally aggressive) primates was enhanced by this most unlikely ally. Whether examining our obsession with canine purity, or delving into the prehistoric past to answer the most fundamental question of all, "Why do we love our dog so much?," Once a Wolf is an engaging work no dog lover or ancestry aficionado should be without.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Sykes (The Seven Daughters of Eve), an Oxford genetics professor, delivers an uneven look at how wolves evolved alongside humans into docile companions and helpers. The book is rich with details about how humans have studied and shaped dog evolution, including profiles of researchers Shaun Ellis and Farley Mowat, who studied dogs' evolutionary roots by living among wolf packs in the wild; and dog breeding case studies, such as how Victorian naturalist and sportsman Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks engineered the golden retriever to include "all the features required for a modern gun-dog." Sykes also explores the diverse relationships humans have with dogs, or dog surrogates, ranging from working dogs on a New Zealand wool farm to the companionship between a Scottish academic and his robotic dog. Along with an obvious fluency with genetics, Sykes also has a gift for rendering complex concepts, such as mitochondrial DNA or genetic microsatellites, accessible to lay readers. However, passages outside his specialty, such as a discussion of cave paintings or a selection of interviews with dog owners, can come across as filler. Including moments of fascinating history and insight alongside a few too many discursive moments, Sykes's survey ends up being less than the sum of its parts. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

How did wolves evolve into dogs? Sykes (Genetics/Oxford Univ.; The Nature of the Beast, 2015, etc.) reviews the state of the art on matters canine and lupine.Past studies of canine evolution have relied on osteological and archaeological evidence, but since 2005, the fully sequenced dog genome has been available, allowing, among other things, for "re-drawing the evolutionary tree of dog breeds constructed with mitochondrial DNA over twenty years previously." Five years later, writes the author, a new family tree was published, with all 64 breedseven the Chihuahuapointing back to the wolf. Some of those breeds are "ancient," such as the Basenji and Samoyed; others are quite recent. Making those breeds required domestication, for which Sykes finds no evidence before about 50,000 years agostill far earlier than previous studies have projected. Like other scholars, the author locates that origin in shared hunting, a process that may have altered humans as much as dogs in "the unstoppable current of natural selection." Scholarly argument persists over whether the original raw materials of the dog were really wolves and not coyotes, jackals, hyenas, and other canids. Sykes charts the development of the Carnivora before settling, persuasively, on the scenario of Paleolithic hunters working in concert with wolves to bring down large game such as bison. The author goes on to examine some of the mutations that subsequently allowed human breeders to select for certain characteristics, whether the ridge of the ridgeback or the pigmentation of the bull terrier (with a passing nod to the heterochromia exhibited by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust). Melanism, hyperuremia, progressive rod-cone retinal degeneration: The author's discussion can be densely technical at times but never enough to render the text inaccessible to those without a background in genetics and population dynamics. Moreover, he closes by looking outside of nature to find the nurture connected to our love of dogs, that "amazing psychic symbiosis."Scientifically inclined dog lovers will find this a trove of information and provocation. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

The most remarkable of all our domestic animals is also our oldest living creation. Wolves started becoming dogs some 40,000 years ago, somewhere in eastern Europe after Homo sapiens arrived in the region. In prose both scientific and poetic, geneticist and author (DNA USA, 2012) Sykes, self-described as ""not a dog person"" but curious about the parallel evolution of dog and human, takes us through the archaeological, paleontological, behavioral, and genetic evidence pinpointing the transformation of wolf to dog. He also examines the changes humans made in their own behavior early in the metamorphosis as they learned from their new companions, and the two species evolved together. Once dogs were firmly fixed as a species distinct from wolves, humans began to tinker with more specific uses of dogs and their physical appearance. This leads Sykes to ponder the rise of the purebred dog, in Victorian times, and a fascinating discussion of the genetics of modern canines. Woven throughout are possible answers to why humans are so in love with their dogs, making for a warmly engaging popular-science read.--Nancy Bent Copyright 2019 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Sykes (human genetics, Oxford; The Seven Daughters of Eve) presents an easy-to-understand, scientific explanation for the genetic origins of dogs. He uses dogs' evolution from wolves, as proven in a pivotal 1997 paper published in Science magazine, as the jumping-off point to discuss pertinent genetic issues, such as the inheritability of diseases and the genesis of different dog breeds. Though Sykes describes himself as "not a dog person," he includes a series of interviews conducted by his wife with dog owners that detail their relationships with their beloved pets, which serves as a nice counterpoint to the preceding technical content. Reading this is like having your own personal geneticist explain complex research papers in a way that is both comprehensible and fascinating. Heavily peppered with references to scientific papers that have documented the research on dog genetics, this also serves as a wealth of further reading material. VERDICT Rich in accessible analogies that deftly explain complex scientific concepts, this is a must-read for anybody who has wondered about the origins of humans' best friend.-Diana Hartle, Univ. of Georgia Science Lib., Athens © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Preface	p. ix
1 Lupa	p. 1
2 Darwin's Dilemma	p. 10
3 I Met a Traveller from an Antique Land	p. 13
4 On the Origin of Wolves	p. 22
5 The Living Fossil	p. 25
6 Let the Bones Speak	p. 31
7 The Cave of Forgotten Dreams	p. 39
8 Hunting with Wolves	p. 51
9 Why Didn't Shaun Ellis Get Eaten by Wolves?	p. 56
10 Friend or Foe?	p. 64
11 A Touch of Evil	p. 70
12 The Basic Framework	p. 76
13 We See the First Dogs	p. 85
14 The Studbook of Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks	p. 94
15 The Emergence of Modern Breeds	p. 100
16 The Dog Genome	p. 110
17 The Genetics of Pedigree Breeds	p. 116
18 The Dance of Life	p. 125
19 At the Heart of the Matter	p. 136
20 In the Lab	p. 162
21 The Scientist Who Came in from the Cold	p. 171
22 The Autumn Muster	p. 177
23 The Girl Who Talks with Dogs	p. 185
24 Born Again: Cloning Your Dog	p. 246
25 Beyond the Reach of Reason	p. 255
Acknowledgements	p. 261
References	p. 263
Picture Credits	p. 273
Index	p. 275

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Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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