Dog is the common use term that refers to members of

the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris (canis,

"dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or
"domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of
the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including
the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or it can refer to the
members of the tribe Canini, which would also include
the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include
the foxes, bush dog, raccoon dog, and others.
[15]
Some
members of the family have dog in their common
names, such as the raccoon dog and the African wild
dog. A few animals have dog in their common names
but are not canids, such as the prairie dog.
The English word dog comes from Middle
English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".
[16]
The term may possibly derive from Proto-
Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old English finger-
docce ("finger-muscle").
[17]
The word also shows the
familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen
in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle,
worm", among others.
[18]
The term dog may ultimately
derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European
vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the
earliest domesticated animal.
[19]

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund)
was the general word for all domestic canines,
and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group
including the mastiff. It is believed this "dog" type was so
common, it eventually became the prototype of the
category "hound".
[20]
By the 16th century, dog had
become the general word, and hound had begun to refer
only to types used for hunting.
[21]
Hound, cognate to
German Hund, Dutch hond, common
Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately
derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog",
found in Sanskrit kukuur
(

),
[22]
Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek k
n, and Lithuanian u.
[23]

In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a
dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from
Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The
father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is
called the dam. Offspring are, in general, called pups
or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a
year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old
English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp,
Swedish valpa, Icelandic hvelpur).
[24]
The term "whelp"
can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or
as a (somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".
See also: Subspecies of Canis lupus
In 1753, the father of modern biological taxonomy, Carl
Linnaeus, listed among the types of quadrupeds familiar
to him, the Latin word for dog, canis. Among the species
within this genus, Linnaeus listed the fox, as Canis
vulpes, wolves (Canis lupus), and the domestic dog,
(Canis canis). In later editions, Linnaeus dropped Canis
canis and greatly expanded his list of the Canis genus of
quadrupeds, and by 1758 included alongside the foxes,
wolves, and jackals and many more terms that are now
listed as synonyms for domestic dog,
including aegyptius (hairless dog), aquaticus, (water
dog), and mustelinus (literally "badger dog"). Among
these were two that later experts have been widely used
for domestic dogs as a species: Canis domesticus and,
most predominantly, Canis familiaris, the "common" or
"familiar" dog.
[25]

The domestic dog was accepted as a species in its own
right until overwhelming evidence from behavior,
vocalizations, morphology, and molecular biology led to
the contemporary scientific understanding that a single
species, the gray wolf, is the common ancestor for all
breeds of domestic dogs.
[26][27][28]
In recognition of this
fact, the domestic dog was reclassified in 1993 as Canis
lupus familiaris, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis
lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American
Society of Mammalogists. C. l. familiaris is listed as the
name for the taxon that is broadly used in the scientific
community and recommended by ITIS, although Canis
familiaris is a recognised synonym.
[29]

Since that time, C. domesticus and all taxa referring to
domestic dogs or subspecies of dog listed by


Domestic dogs are descended fromgray wolves.
Main articles: Origin of the domestic dog and Gray wolf
Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their
wolf ancestors, which would have been pack
hunters with complex body language. These
sophisticated forms of social cognition and
communication may account for their trainability,
playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and
social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a
relationship with humans that has enabled them to
become one of the most successful species on the
planet today.
[26]

Although experts largely disagree over the details of dog
domestication, it is agreed that human interaction played
a significant role in shaping the
subspecies.
[31]
Domestication may have occurred initially
in separate areas, particularly Siberia and Europe. It is
thought that the current lineage of dogs were
domesticated between 15,000 years and 8,500 years
ago. Shortly after the latest domestication, dogs became
ubiquitous in human populations, and spread throughout
the world.
Emigrants from Siberia likely crossed the Bering
Strait with dogs in their company, and some
experts
[32]
suggest the use of sled dogs may have been
critical to the success of the waves that entered North
America roughly 12,000 years ago,
[32]
although the
earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in
North America dates from about 9,400 years
ago.
[33][34]
Dogs were an important part of life for
the Athabascan population in North America, and were
their only domesticated animal. Dogs also carried much
of the load in the migration of
the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. Use of
dogs as pack animals in these cultures often persisted
after the introduction of the horse to North America.
[35]

The current consensus among biologists and
archaeologists is that the dating of first domestication is
indeterminate,
[31][35]
although more recent evidence
shows isolated domestication events as early as 33,000
years ago.
[36][37]
There is conclusive evidence the
present lineage of dogs genetically diverged from their
wolf ancestors at least 15,000 years
ago,
[38][39][40][41][42]
but some believe domestication to
have occurred earlier.
[31]
Evidence is accruing that there
were previous domestication events, but that those
lineages died out.
[43]

It is not known whether humans domesticated the wolf
as such to initiate dog's divergence from its ancestors,
or whether dog's evolutionary path had already taken a
different course prior to domestication. For example, it is
hypothesized that some wolves gathered around the
campsites of paleolithic camps to scavenge refuse, and
associated evolutionary pressure developed that favored
those who were less frightened by, and keener in
approaching, humans.
[44]

The bulk of the scientific evidence for the evolution of
the domestic dog stems from morphological studies of
archaeological findings and mitochondrial DNA studies.
The divergence date of roughly 15,000 years ago is
based in part on archaeological evidence that
demonstrates the domestication of dogs occurred more
than 15,000 years ago,
[26][35]
and some genetic evidence
indicates the domestication of dogs from their wolf
ancestors began in the late Upper Paleolithic close to
the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000
and 14,000 years ago.
[45]
But there is a wide range of
other, contradictory findings that make this issue
controversial.
[citation needed]
There are findings beginning
currently at 33,000 years ago distinctly placing them as
domesticated dogs evidenced not only by shortening of
the muzzle but widening as well as crowding of teeth.


Tesem, an old Egyptian sighthound-like dog.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the latest point at
which dogs could have diverged from wolves was
roughly 15,000 years ago, although it is possible they
diverged much earlier.
[26]
In 2008, a team of international
scientists released findings from an excavation at Goyet
Cave in Belgium declaring a large, toothy canine existed
31,700 years ago and ate a diet of horse, musk ox and
reindeer.
[46]

Prior to this Belgian discovery, the earliest dog bones
found were two large skulls from Russia and
a mandible from Germany dated from roughly 14,000
years ago.
[26][40]
Remains of smaller dogs
from Natufian cave deposits in the Middle East,
including the earliest burial of a human being with a
domestic dog, have been dated to around 10,000 to
12,000 years ago.
[40][47]
There is a great deal of
archaeological evidence for dogs throughout Europe
and Asia around this period and through the next two
thousand years (roughly 8,000 to 10,000 years ago),
with specimens uncovered in Germany, the French Alps,
and Iraq, and cave paintings in Turkey.
[26]
The oldest
remains of a domesticated dog in the Americas were
found in Texas and have been dated to about 9,400
years ago.
[48]


Dog is the common use term that refers to members of
the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris (canis,
"dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or
"domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of
the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including
the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or it can refer to the
members of the tribe Canini, which would also include
the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include
the foxes, bush dog, raccoon dog, and others.
[15]
Some
members of the family have dog in their common
names, such as the raccoon dog and the African wild
dog. A few animals have dog in their common names
but are not canids, such as the prairie dog.
The English word dog comes from Middle
English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".
[16]
The term may possibly derive from Proto-
Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old English finger-
docce ("finger-muscle").
[17]
The word also shows the
familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen
in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle,
worm", among others.
[18]
The term dog may ultimately
derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European
vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the
earliest domesticated animal.
[19]

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund)
was the general word for all domestic canines,
and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group
including the mastiff. It is believed this "dog" type was so
common, it eventually became the prototype of the
category "hound".
[20]
By the 16th century, dog had
become the general word, and hound had begun to refer
only to types used for hunting.
[21]
Hound, cognate to
German Hund, Dutch hond, common
Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately
derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog",
found in Sanskrit kukuur
(

),
[22]
Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek k
n, and Lithuanian u.
[23]

In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a
dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from
Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The
father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is
called the dam. Offspring are, in general, called pups
or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a
year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old
English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp,
Swedish valpa, Icelandic hvelpur).
[24]
The term "whelp"
can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or
as a (somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".
See also: Subspecies of Canis lupus
In 1753, the father of modern biological taxonomy, Carl
Linnaeus, listed among the types of quadrupeds familiar
to him, the Latin word for dog, canis. Among the species
within this genus, Linnaeus listed the fox, as Canis
vulpes, wolves (Canis lupus), and the domestic dog,
(Canis canis). In later editions, Linnaeus dropped Canis
canis and greatly expanded his list of the Canis genus of
quadrupeds, and by 1758 included alongside the foxes,
wolves, and jackals and many more terms that are now
listed as synonyms for domestic dog,
including aegyptius (hairless dog), aquaticus, (water
dog), and mustelinus (literally "badger dog"). Among
these were two that later experts have been widely used
for domestic dogs as a species: Canis domesticus and,
most predominantly, Canis familiaris, the "common" or
"familiar" dog.
[25]

The domestic dog was accepted as a species in its own
right until overwhelming evidence from behavior,
vocalizations, morphology, and molecular biology led to
the contemporary scientific understanding that a single
species, the gray wolf, is the common ancestor for all
breeds of domestic dogs.
[26][27][28]
In recognition of this
fact, the domestic dog was reclassified in 1993 as Canis
lupus familiaris, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis
lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American
Society of Mammalogists. C. l. familiaris is listed as the
name for the taxon that is broadly used in the scientific
community and recommended by ITIS, although Canis
familiaris is a recognised synonym.
[29]

Since that time, C. domesticus and all taxa referring to
domestic dogs or subspecies of dog listed by


Domestic dogs are descended fromgray wolves.
Main articles: Origin of the domestic dog and Gray wolf
Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their
wolf ancestors, which would have been pack
hunters with complex body language. These
sophisticated forms of social cognition and
communication may account for their trainability,
playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and
social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a
relationship with humans that has enabled them to
become one of the most successful species on the
planet today.
[26]

Although experts largely disagree over the details of dog
domestication, it is agreed that human interaction played
a significant role in shaping the
subspecies.
[31]
Domestication may have occurred initially
in separate areas, particularly Siberia and Europe. It is
thought that the current lineage of dogs were
domesticated between 15,000 years and 8,500 years
ago. Shortly after the latest domestication, dogs became
ubiquitous in human populations, and spread throughout
the world.
Emigrants from Siberia likely crossed the Bering
Strait with dogs in their company, and some
experts
[32]
suggest the use of sled dogs may have been
critical to the success of the waves that entered North
America roughly 12,000 years ago,
[32]
although the
earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in
North America dates from about 9,400 years
ago.
[33][34]
Dogs were an important part of life for
the Athabascan population in North America, and were
their only domesticated animal. Dogs also carried much
of the load in the migration of
the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. Use of
dogs as pack animals in these cultures often persisted
after the introduction of the horse to North America.
[35]

The current consensus among biologists and
archaeologists is that the dating of first domestication is
indeterminate,
[31][35]
although more recent evidence
shows isolated domestication events as early as 33,000
years ago.
[36][37]
There is conclusive evidence the
present lineage of dogs genetically diverged from their
wolf ancestors at least 15,000 years
ago,
[38][39][40][41][42]
but some believe domestication to
have occurred earlier.
[31]
Evidence is accruing that there
were previous domestication events, but that those
lineages died out.
[43]

It is not known whether humans domesticated the wolf
as such to initiate dog's divergence from its ancestors,
or whether dog's evolutionary path had already taken a
different course prior to domestication. For example, it is
hypothesized that some wolves gathered around the
campsites of paleolithic camps to scavenge refuse, and
associated evolutionary pressure developed that favored
those who were less frightened by, and keener in
approaching, humans.
[44]

The bulk of the scientific evidence for the evolution of
the domestic dog stems from morphological studies of
archaeological findings and mitochondrial DNA studies.
The divergence date of roughly 15,000 years ago is
based in part on archaeological evidence that
demonstrates the domestication of dogs occurred more
than 15,000 years ago,
[26][35]
and some genetic evidence
indicates the domestication of dogs from their wolf
ancestors began in the late Upper Paleolithic close to
the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000
and 14,000 years ago.
[45]
But there is a wide range of
other, contradictory findings that make this issue
controversial.
[citation needed]
There are findings beginning
currently at 33,000 years ago distinctly placing them as
domesticated dogs evidenced not only by shortening of
the muzzle but widening as well as crowding of teeth.


Tesem, an old Egyptian sighthound-like dog.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the latest point at
which dogs could have diverged from wolves was
roughly 15,000 years ago, although it is possible they
diverged much earlier.
[26]
In 2008, a team of international
scientists released findings from an excavation at Goyet
Cave in Belgium declaring a large, toothy canine existed
31,700 years ago and ate a diet of horse, musk ox and
reindeer.
[46]

Prior to this Belgian discovery, the earliest dog bones
found were two large skulls from Russia and
a mandible from Germany dated from roughly 14,000
years ago.
[26][40]
Remains of smaller dogs
from Natufian cave deposits in the Middle East,
including the earliest burial of a human being with a
domestic dog, have been dated to around 10,000 to
12,000 years ago.
[40][47]
There is a great deal of
archaeological evidence for dogs throughout Europe
and Asia around this period and through the next two
thousand years (roughly 8,000 to 10,000 years ago),
with specimens uncovered in Germany, the French Alps,
and Iraq, and cave paintings in Turkey.
[26]
The oldest
remains of a domesticated dog in the Americas were
found in Texas and have been dated to about 9,400
years ago.
[48]

Dog is the common use term that refers to members of
the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris (canis,
"dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or
"domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of
the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including
the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or it can refer to the
members of the tribe Canini, which would also include
the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include
the foxes, bush dog, raccoon dog, and others.
[15]
Some
members of the family have dog in their common
names, such as the raccoon dog and the African wild
dog. A few animals have dog in their common names
but are not canids, such as the prairie dog.
The English word dog comes from Middle
English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".
[16]
The term may possibly derive from Proto-
Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old English finger-
docce ("finger-muscle").
[17]
The word also shows the
familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen
in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle,
worm", among others.
[18]
The term dog may ultimately
derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European
vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the
earliest domesticated animal.
[19]

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund)
was the general word for all domestic canines,
and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group
including the mastiff. It is believed this "dog" type was so
common, it eventually became the prototype of the
category "hound".
[20]
By the 16th century, dog had
become the general word, and hound had begun to refer
only to types used for hunting.
[21]
Hound, cognate to
German Hund, Dutch hond, common
Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately
derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog",
found in Sanskrit kukuur
(

),
[22]
Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek k
n, and Lithuanian u.
[23]

In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a
dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from
Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The
father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is
called the dam. Offspring are, in general, called pups
or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a
year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old
English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp,
Swedish valpa, Icelandic hvelpur).
[24]
The term "whelp"
can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or
as a (somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".
See also: Subspecies of Canis lupus
In 1753, the father of modern biological taxonomy, Carl
Linnaeus, listed among the types of quadrupeds familiar
to him, the Latin word for dog, canis. Among the species
within this genus, Linnaeus listed the fox, as Canis
vulpes, wolves (Canis lupus), and the domestic dog,
(Canis canis). In later editions, Linnaeus dropped Canis
canis and greatly expanded his list of the Canis genus of
quadrupeds, and by 1758 included alongside the foxes,
wolves, and jackals and many more terms that are now
listed as synonyms for domestic dog,
including aegyptius (hairless dog), aquaticus, (water
dog), and mustelinus (literally "badger dog"). Among
these were two that later experts have been widely used
for domestic dogs as a species: Canis domesticus and,
most predominantly, Canis familiaris, the "common" or
"familiar" dog.
[25]

The domestic dog was accepted as a species in its own
right until overwhelming evidence from behavior,
vocalizations, morphology, and molecular biology led to
the contemporary scientific understanding that a single
species, the gray wolf, is the common ancestor for all
breeds of domestic dogs.
[26][27][28]
In recognition of this
fact, the domestic dog was reclassified in 1993 as Canis
lupus familiaris, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis
lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American
Society of Mammalogists. C. l. familiaris is listed as the
name for the taxon that is broadly used in the scientific
community and recommended by ITIS, although Canis
familiaris is a recognised synonym.
[29]

Since that time, C. domesticus and all taxa referring to
domestic dogs or subspecies of dog listed by


Domestic dogs are descended fromgray wolves.
Main articles: Origin of the domestic dog and Gray wolf
Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their
wolf ancestors, which would have been pack
hunters with complex body language. These
sophisticated forms of social cognition and
communication may account for their trainability,
playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and
social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a
relationship with humans that has enabled them to
become one of the most successful species on the
planet today.
[26]

Although experts largely disagree over the details of dog
domestication, it is agreed that human interaction played
a significant role in shaping the
subspecies.
[31]
Domestication may have occurred initially
in separate areas, particularly Siberia and Europe. It is
thought that the current lineage of dogs were
domesticated between 15,000 years and 8,500 years
ago. Shortly after the latest domestication, dogs became
ubiquitous in human populations, and spread throughout
the world.
Emigrants from Siberia likely crossed the Bering
Strait with dogs in their company, and some
experts
[32]
suggest the use of sled dogs may have been
critical to the success of the waves that entered North
America roughly 12,000 years ago,
[32]
although the
earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in
North America dates from about 9,400 years
ago.
[33][34]
Dogs were an important part of life for
the Athabascan population in North America, and were
their only domesticated animal. Dogs also carried much
of the load in the migration of
the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. Use of
dogs as pack animals in these cultures often persisted
after the introduction of the horse to North America.
[35]

The current consensus among biologists and
archaeologists is that the dating of first domestication is
indeterminate,
[31][35]
although more recent evidence
shows isolated domestication events as early as 33,000
years ago.
[36][37]
There is conclusive evidence the
present lineage of dogs genetically diverged from their
wolf ancestors at least 15,000 years
ago,
[38][39][40][41][42]
but some believe domestication to
have occurred earlier.
[31]
Evidence is accruing that there
were previous domestication events, but that those
lineages died out.
[43]

It is not known whether humans domesticated the wolf
as such to initiate dog's divergence from its ancestors,
or whether dog's evolutionary path had already taken a
different course prior to domestication. For example, it is
hypothesized that some wolves gathered around the
campsites of paleolithic camps to scavenge refuse, and
associated evolutionary pressure developed that favored
those who were less frightened by, and keener in
approaching, humans.
[44]

The bulk of the scientific evidence for the evolution of
the domestic dog stems from morphological studies of
archaeological findings and mitochondrial DNA studies.
The divergence date of roughly 15,000 years ago is
based in part on archaeological evidence that
demonstrates the domestication of dogs occurred more
than 15,000 years ago,
[26][35]
and some genetic evidence
indicates the domestication of dogs from their wolf
ancestors began in the late Upper Paleolithic close to
the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000
and 14,000 years ago.
[45]
But there is a wide range of
other, contradictory findings that make this issue
controversial.
[citation needed]
There are findings beginning
currently at 33,000 years ago distinctly placing them as
domesticated dogs evidenced not only by shortening of
the muzzle but widening as well as crowding of teeth.


Tesem, an old Egyptian sighthound-like dog.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the latest point at
which dogs could have diverged from wolves was
roughly 15,000 years ago, although it is possible they
diverged much earlier.
[26]
In 2008, a team of international
scientists released findings from an excavation at Goyet
Cave in Belgium declaring a large, toothy canine existed
31,700 years ago and ate a diet of horse, musk ox and
reindeer.
[46]

Prior to this Belgian discovery, the earliest dog bones
found were two large skulls from Russia and
a mandible from Germany dated from roughly 14,000
years ago.
[26][40]
Remains of smaller dogs
from Natufian cave deposits in the Middle East,
including the earliest burial of a human being with a
domestic dog, have been dated to around 10,000 to
12,000 years ago.
[40][47]
There is a great deal of
archaeological evidence for dogs throughout Europe
and Asia around this period and through the next two
thousand years (roughly 8,000 to 10,000 years ago),
with specimens uncovered in Germany, the French Alps,
and Iraq, and cave paintings in Turkey.
[26]
The oldest
remains of a domesticated dog in the Americas were
found in Texas and have been dated to about 9,400
years ago.
[48]

Dog is the common use term that refers to members of
the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris (canis,
"dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or
"domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of
the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including
the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or it can refer to the
members of the tribe Canini, which would also include
the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include
the foxes, bush dog, raccoon dog, and others.
[15]
Some
members of the family have dog in their common
names, such as the raccoon dog and the African wild
dog. A few animals have dog in their common names
but are not canids, such as the prairie dog.
The English word dog comes from Middle
English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".
[16]
The term may possibly derive from Proto-
Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old English finger-
docce ("finger-muscle").
[17]
The word also shows the
familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen
in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle,
worm", among others.
[18]
The term dog may ultimately
derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European
vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the
earliest domesticated animal.
[19]

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund)
was the general word for all domestic canines,
and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group
including the mastiff. It is believed this "dog" type was so
common, it eventually became the prototype of the
category "hound".
[20]
By the 16th century, dog had
become the general word, and hound had begun to refer
only to types used for hunting.
[21]
Hound, cognate to
German Hund, Dutch hond, common
Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately
derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog",
found in Sanskrit kukuur
(

),
[22]
Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek k
n, and Lithuanian u.
[23]

In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a
dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from
Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The
father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is
called the dam. Offspring are, in general, called pups
or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a
year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old
English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp,
Swedish valpa, Icelandic hvelpur).
[24]
The term "whelp"
can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or
as a (somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".
See also: Subspecies of Canis lupus
In 1753, the father of modern biological taxonomy, Carl
Linnaeus, listed among the types of quadrupeds familiar
to him, the Latin word for dog, canis. Among the species
within this genus, Linnaeus listed the fox, as Canis
vulpes, wolves (Canis lupus), and the domestic dog,
(Canis canis). In later editions, Linnaeus dropped Canis
canis and greatly expanded his list of the Canis genus of
quadrupeds, and by 1758 included alongside the foxes,
wolves, and jackals and many more terms that are now
listed as synonyms for domestic dog,
including aegyptius (hairless dog), aquaticus, (water
dog), and mustelinus (literally "badger dog"). Among
these were two that later experts have been widely used
for domestic dogs as a species: Canis domesticus and,
most predominantly, Canis familiaris, the "common" or
"familiar" dog.
[25]

The domestic dog was accepted as a species in its own
right until overwhelming evidence from behavior,
vocalizations, morphology, and molecular biology led to
the contemporary scientific understanding that a single
species, the gray wolf, is the common ancestor for all
breeds of domestic dogs.
[26][27][28]
In recognition of this
fact, the domestic dog was reclassified in 1993 as Canis
lupus familiaris, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis
lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American
Society of Mammalogists. C. l. familiaris is listed as the
name for the taxon that is broadly used in the scientific
community and recommended by ITIS, although Canis
familiaris is a recognised synonym.
[29]

Since that time, C. domesticus and all taxa referring to
domestic dogs or subspecies of dog listed by


Domestic dogs are descended fromgray wolves.
Main articles: Origin of the domestic dog and Gray wolf
Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their
wolf ancestors, which would have been pack
hunters with complex body language. These
sophisticated forms of social cognition and
communication may account for their trainability,
playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and
social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a
relationship with humans that has enabled them to
become one of the most successful species on the
planet today.
[26]

Although experts largely disagree over the details of dog
domestication, it is agreed that human interaction played
a significant role in shaping the
subspecies.
[31]
Domestication may have occurred initially
in separate areas, particularly Siberia and Europe. It is
thought that the current lineage of dogs were
domesticated between 15,000 years and 8,500 years
ago. Shortly after the latest domestication, dogs became
ubiquitous in human populations, and spread throughout
the world.
Emigrants from Siberia likely crossed the Bering
Strait with dogs in their company, and some
experts
[32]
suggest the use of sled dogs may have been
critical to the success of the waves that entered North
America roughly 12,000 years ago,
[32]
although the
earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in
North America dates from about 9,400 years
ago.
[33][34]
Dogs were an important part of life for
the Athabascan population in North America, and were
their only domesticated animal. Dogs also carried much
of the load in the migration of
the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. Use of
dogs as pack animals in these cultures often persisted
after the introduction of the horse to North America.
[35]

The current consensus among biologists and
archaeologists is that the dating of first domestication is
indeterminate,
[31][35]
although more recent evidence
shows isolated domestication events as early as 33,000
years ago.
[36][37]
There is conclusive evidence the
present lineage of dogs genetically diverged from their
wolf ancestors at least 15,000 years
ago,
[38][39][40][41][42]
but some believe domestication to
have occurred earlier.
[31]
Evidence is accruing that there
were previous domestication events, but that those
lineages died out.
[43]

It is not known whether humans domesticated the wolf
as such to initiate dog's divergence from its ancestors,
or whether dog's evolutionary path had already taken a
different course prior to domestication. For example, it is
hypothesized that some wolves gathered around the
campsites of paleolithic camps to scavenge refuse, and
associated evolutionary pressure developed that favored
those who were less frightened by, and keener in
approaching, humans.
[44]

The bulk of the scientific evidence for the evolution of
the domestic dog stems from morphological studies of
archaeological findings and mitochondrial DNA studies.
The divergence date of roughly 15,000 years ago is
based in part on archaeological evidence that
demonstrates the domestication of dogs occurred more
than 15,000 years ago,
[26][35]
and some genetic evidence
indicates the domestication of dogs from their wolf
ancestors began in the late Upper Paleolithic close to
the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000
and 14,000 years ago.
[45]
But there is a wide range of
other, contradictory findings that make this issue
controversial.
[citation needed]
There are findings beginning
currently at 33,000 years ago distinctly placing them as
domesticated dogs evidenced not only by shortening of
the muzzle but widening as well as crowding of teeth.


Tesem, an old Egyptian sighthound-like dog.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the latest point at
which dogs could have diverged from wolves was
roughly 15,000 years ago, although it is possible they
diverged much earlier.
[26]
In 2008, a team of international
scientists released findings from an excavation at Goyet
Cave in Belgium declaring a large, toothy canine existed
31,700 years ago and ate a diet of horse, musk ox and
reindeer.
[46]

Prior to this Belgian discovery, the earliest dog bones
found were two large skulls from Russia and
a mandible from Germany dated from roughly 14,000
years ago.
[26][40]
Remains of smaller dogs
from Natufian cave deposits in the Middle East,
including the earliest burial of a human being with a
domestic dog, have been dated to around 10,000 to
12,000 years ago.
[40][47]
There is a great deal of
archaeological evidence for dogs throughout Europe
and Asia around this period and through the next two
thousand years (roughly 8,000 to 10,000 years ago),
with specimens uncovered in Germany, the French Alps,
and Iraq, and cave paintings in Turkey.
[26]
The oldest
remains of a domesticated dog in the Americas were
found in Texas and have been dated to about 9,400
years ago.
[48]

Dog is the common use term that refers to members of
the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris (canis,
"dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or
"domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of
the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including
the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or it can refer to the
members of the tribe Canini, which would also include
the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include
the foxes, bush dog, raccoon dog, and others.
[15]
Some
members of the family have dog in their common
names, such as the raccoon dog and the African wild
dog. A few animals have dog in their common names
but are not canids, such as the prairie dog.
The English word dog comes from Middle
English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed".
[16]
The term may possibly derive from Proto-
Germanic *dukkn, represented in Old English finger-
docce ("finger-muscle").
[17]
The word also shows the
familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen
in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle,
worm", among others.
[18]
The term dog may ultimately
derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European
vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the
earliest domesticated animal.
[19]

In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund)
was the general word for all domestic canines,
and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group
including the mastiff. It is believed this "dog" type was so
common, it eventually became the prototype of the
category "hound".
[20]
By the 16th century, dog had
become the general word, and hound had begun to refer
only to types used for hunting.
[21]
Hound, cognate to
German Hund, Dutch hond, common
Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately
derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog",
found in Sanskrit kukuur
(

),
[22]
Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek k
n, and Lithuanian u.
[23]

In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a
dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle
English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from
Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The
father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is
called the dam. Offspring are, in general, called pups
or puppies, from French poupe, until they are about a
year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old
English word hwelp (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp,
Swedish valpa, Icelandic hvelpur).
[24]
The term "whelp"
can also be used to refer to the young of any canid, or
as a (somewhat archaic) alternative to "puppy".
See also: Subspecies of Canis lupus
In 1753, the father of modern biological taxonomy, Carl
Linnaeus, listed among the types of quadrupeds familiar
to him, the Latin word for dog, canis. Among the species
within this genus, Linnaeus listed the fox, as Canis
vulpes, wolves (Canis lupus), and the domestic dog,
(Canis canis). In later editions, Linnaeus dropped Canis
canis and greatly expanded his list of the Canis genus of
quadrupeds, and by 1758 included alongside the foxes,
wolves, and jackals and many more terms that are now
listed as synonyms for domestic dog,
including aegyptius (hairless dog), aquaticus, (water
dog), and mustelinus (literally "badger dog"). Among
these were two that later experts have been widely used
for domestic dogs as a species: Canis domesticus and,
most predominantly, Canis familiaris, the "common" or
"familiar" dog.
[25]

The domestic dog was accepted as a species in its own
right until overwhelming evidence from behavior,
vocalizations, morphology, and molecular biology led to
the contemporary scientific understanding that a single
species, the gray wolf, is the common ancestor for all
breeds of domestic dogs.
[26][27][28]
In recognition of this
fact, the domestic dog was reclassified in 1993 as Canis
lupus familiaris, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis
lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American
Society of Mammalogists. C. l. familiaris is listed as the
name for the taxon that is broadly used in the scientific
community and recommended by ITIS, although Canis
familiaris is a recognised synonym.
[29]

Since that time, C. domesticus and all taxa referring to
domestic dogs or subspecies of dog listed by


Domestic dogs are descended fromgray wolves.
Main articles: Origin of the domestic dog and Gray wolf
Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their
wolf ancestors, which would have been pack
hunters with complex body language. These
sophisticated forms of social cognition and
communication may account for their trainability,
playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and
social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a
relationship with humans that has enabled them to
become one of the most successful species on the
planet today.
[26]

Although experts largely disagree over the details of dog
domestication, it is agreed that human interaction played
a significant role in shaping the
subspecies.
[31]
Domestication may have occurred initially
in separate areas, particularly Siberia and Europe. It is
thought that the current lineage of dogs were
domesticated between 15,000 years and 8,500 years
ago. Shortly after the latest domestication, dogs became
ubiquitous in human populations, and spread throughout
the world.
Emigrants from Siberia likely crossed the Bering
Strait with dogs in their company, and some
experts
[32]
suggest the use of sled dogs may have been
critical to the success of the waves that entered North
America roughly 12,000 years ago,
[32]
although the
earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in
North America dates from about 9,400 years
ago.
[33][34]
Dogs were an important part of life for
the Athabascan population in North America, and were
their only domesticated animal. Dogs also carried much
of the load in the migration of
the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. Use of
dogs as pack animals in these cultures often persisted
after the introduction of the horse to North America.
[35]

The current consensus among biologists and
archaeologists is that the dating of first domestication is
indeterminate,
[31][35]
although more recent evidence
shows isolated domestication events as early as 33,000
years ago.
[36][37]
There is conclusive evidence the
present lineage of dogs genetically diverged from their
wolf ancestors at least 15,000 years
ago,
[38][39][40][41][42]
but some believe domestication to
have occurred earlier.
[31]
Evidence is accruing that there
were previous domestication events, but that those
lineages died out.
[43]

It is not known whether humans domesticated the wolf
as such to initiate dog's divergence from its ancestors,
or whether dog's evolutionary path had already taken a
different course prior to domestication. For example, it is
hypothesized that some wolves gathered around the
campsites of paleolithic camps to scavenge refuse, and
associated evolutionary pressure developed that favored
those who were less frightened by, and keener in
approaching, humans.
[44]

The bulk of the scientific evidence for the evolution of
the domestic dog stems from morphological studies of
archaeological findings and mitochondrial DNA studies.
The divergence date of roughly 15,000 years ago is
based in part on archaeological evidence that
demonstrates the domestication of dogs occurred more
than 15,000 years ago,
[26][35]
and some genetic evidence
indicates the domestication of dogs from their wolf
ancestors began in the late Upper Paleolithic close to
the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, between 17,000
and 14,000 years ago.
[45]
But there is a wide range of
other, contradictory findings that make this issue
controversial.
[citation needed]
There are findings beginning
currently at 33,000 years ago distinctly placing them as
domesticated dogs evidenced not only by shortening of
the muzzle but widening as well as crowding of teeth.