So this is lecture two, the Paradoxical Canine. How is it that we can have a species that sleeps in our bed, that is almost genetically identical to wolves? So dogs have spread across the entire world. They live on every single continent where people are found. Obviously, dogs are doing more jobs than ever. You'd think that in the age of the iPad or the internet that dogs are too completely obsolete, but instead what we're finding is that dogs are helping people in more ways than ever, whether it's service dogs or dogs helping for the military or any other use dogs are being employed in. So incredibly successful species, but it's a puzzle how in the world did they evolve from wolves. That's what this lecture is about. So in the Genius of Dogs, the chapter that is most relevant to what we're gonna be talking about is chapter one and two. So if you're following along in the book, those would be the chapters that would be the most relevant here. And for Dognition, there are not any games specifically. But obviously, this will help setup the general reasoning behind the games themselves. So again, the paradoxical canine. They're paradoxical, because they evolved from these guys. And while wolves seem wonderful, the truth is that over our evolutionary history and in recent history, humans have not had the best relationship with wolves. So in our evolutionary history, we directly competed for wolves for food and in our current history. Obviously there's been a long period where wolves have been reviled and harassed and killed in any place that they were found that humans wanted to live. So again, how could it be that our best friends came from a species that we don't have a very good relationship with unfortunately? The history of our relationship with wolves and then dogs, it actually began about 50,000 years ago. Humans, as a species, our lineage is about 7 million years old and it has its original in Africa. The interesting thing is that wolves and the whole canine genius has its original in North America. So imagine seven million years ago when you have a canine in North American and a hominid in North Africa, you wouldn't have bet that those two species were ever gonna meet or the lineage were ever gonna meet and then they would become best friends with such an important relationship. So, it all started when 50,000 years ago modern humans began leaving Africa. So there had been many pulses of homonyms out of Africa, but the pulse at 50,000 was when modern humans, our species left and there was something very different about us that was very important. If you were a predator living in Eurasia and that was that humans, modern humans were using projectile weapons. We were the first species that had things like bows and arrows and other weapons, like that could allow humans to kill another animal at a distance. What that meant was that while we don't have claws and teeth, we could really be a super predator. We could dominate all other predators who are trying to eat lots of different animals, because we have these effective weapons. Well, after we leave Africa, we end up in Eurasia we walk into a Europe and Asia that none of us were particularly recognized, because the animals that live there or the fauna were very different. There were lots of different predators, there were saber-toothed cats, there were giant sloths. There were all sorts of other animals that really quickly go extinct after 50,000 years when the first humans start arriving in Europe in particular. So what happens though, to the wolves that were living there. Well, I think this is the part where you realize how remarkable our relationship is with dogs, which is even though, humans were directly competing and wiping out every other predator, wolves somehow survived. So bears in Europe and wolves were the only two predators of the entire predator guild that survived and in some ways, flourished in their existence when humans, modern humans with their projectile weapons arrived. So just imagine how frustrating that must've been, if you were a hunger gatherer who left Africa entered into Eurasia and you were able to be a super predator, wipe out everybody else. But these infernal wolves kept competing with you and eating all the animals that you wanna eat. And for some reason, you weren't able to wipe them out. Not the description of your best friend. It also raises the question about the origin of dogs. Many people have told the story that hunter gatherers went out and they would've captured different, maybe they would take wolf puppies, bring them into their homes and raise them into adulthood and then that's how dogs happened is people wanted to create dogs from wolves. I don't think that's very likely, given the fact that the relationship with wolves and dogs was such competitive one. [LAUGH] I don't think that hunter gatherers who were working very hard to make ends meet, one day woke up in the morning and said, gosh, you know what would be great is let's go get some wolf puppies and raise them with our children. And when we're out hunting and gathering, the wolves can stay with our kids. For some reason, I don't think that probably is what happened. And in fact, what happens is dogs somehow evolve and some dogs were actually shaped and were bred, especially in the last few hundred years to really be wolf killers, while evolutionarily we have had a really tough relationship with wolves. In recent history, we've had specific breeds of dogs that have been bred to kill wolves. And of course, there have been entire efforts in the United States and all sorts of other countries where bounties were paid. If you could kill a wolf, you could get paid money. And so, I don't think anything could emphasize more that the puzzle that wolves somehow evolved into dogs. So how is it that dogs evolve from this feared predator into our trusted companion. We know, obviously, of red riding hood, how big your teeth are, [LAUGH] grandma. And having hung out with some wolves, I can tell you, they have very big teeth. All the way to the mythology around our dogs being the faithful companions. How in the world did they do that? How did they go from being geared predators to being all over the world totally successful doing doing all sorts of jobs, helping us and really being the most successful mammal on Earth besides ourselves. Whatever it is that allowed them to go from wolves to dogs, that is genius. That is what we're going to talk about this semester in these courses is how did they become so successful? So the paradoxical canine to the wrap it up here, our relationship with dogs is really an evolutionary puzzle. It seems like, obviously, our best friends, they're everywhere in our lives. What's the puzzle? Well, the puzzle is that wolves and humans have competed for food for the last 50,000 years. Even today in this country, in many parts, particularly in the West where wolves have been reintroduced. People are not particularly fond of wolves, especially if you run a cattle ranch. Modern humans entered into Europe about 50,000 years ago, they wiped out all the major predators, except for wolves and bears and how frustrating that must have been for them. So wolves not particularly popular, I imagine. And then through history and even today, wolves are reviled in story and hunted down in real life, so then it becomes a puzzle. How in the world did a species that we don't have a particularly good relationship with turn into our best friend somehow, so that will be the topic of the next lectures.
