Dogs are awesome. Anyone who has ever been owned by a dog knows this. They offer loyalty, companionship, understanding, bonding, and cuteness overload.
We don't need science to know this, but new research allows us to understand the uniqueness of this relationship.
Domestication by our ancestors shaped wolves into dogs.
This fact alone is mind-blowing because dogs are very different from wolves. Imagine the first people who saw wolves as companions!
When were dogs domesticated? Well, it was thought to be around 33,000 years ago. But research published in December points to a much more recent event. Dogs were domesticated in Siberia 23,000 years ago and accompanied people across the Bering land bridge into the Americas.
Dogs are unique in how they communicate with people.
Through the process of selection, humans have bonded with dogs. They come in all shapes and sizes now. But most remarkable is their ability to read and use human communication in ways that even our closest living relatives- the chimpanzees cannot. Let me explain—
Dogs can use pointing gestures and gaze direction, something we do not share with any other animal species on the planet. Human-dog eye contact is essential for social interaction. In fact, puppies cherish eye contact. Wolves possess none of these traits and often avoid human gaze.
Research has shown that mutual gaze between dogs and humans leads to an oxytocin feedback loop. A similar emotional connection exists between human mothers and infants. As expected, there is no such feedback loop between humans and wolves.
Evolution explains “puppy eyes”.
And the sad eyes made by puppies?
There's science behind that too. Dogs with expressive eyebrows have been selected over thousands of years. Dogs have actually evolved muscles around their eyes which allow them to make expressions that remind us of our own infants.
I want to stop to repeat this because this is quite extraordinary. It shows evolution at work. Dogs have anatomical changes to their faces (a small facial muscle) that let's them make expressions that appeal to us. We’ve selected dogs for cuteness!
Dogs have evolved human infant-like expressions that cause us to want to look after them.
Now, dog-lovers don’t need a reason to love their friends. But now you know a few more reasons why they make us feel so fuzzy and warm inside.
Spidermilk!
Would you like your coffee with cow milk, oat milk or... spider milk?
Remarkably certain spiders take care of their young and feed them ‘milk’, two things that until recently only mammals were thought to do. In case you’re wondering, spider milk is very nutritious.
This discovery also upends the whole meaning of mammal, which are animals that nurse their young.
My book, COVID-19: Separating Fact from Fiction, is now available globally.
Here’s the link to the Kindle version on Amazon.com.
Here’s the link on Amazon’s Indian site.
If the book resonates with you emotionally and you come away feeling you’ve been able to make a little bit more sense of what’s going on, it’s a success. If you like the book, please do leave me a review on Amazon or on Goodreads. That’s how people usually find new books these days.
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