Oldest known dog bone
A new genetic study identified the earliest-known dog — dated to about 15,800 years ago — from bones recovered at the Pınarbaşı rock shelter in Turkey. (x.com) That single specimen pushes back evidence for dog domestication in Anatolia and adds a crucial data point for tracing human–canid relationships. (x.com)
Two companion papers in Nature released on 25–26 March 2026 present whole nuclear and mitochondrial genomes recovered from canid remains at Pınarbaşı, Gough’s Cave and two Mesolithic sites in Serbia. Zooarchaeological assessment showed the Pınarbaşı specimen was a puppy whose sex was determined by tooth morphology, and ancient-DNA teams recovered high-coverage nuclear genomes from the remains. Stable‑isotope analysis indicates the Pınarbaşı canids regularly ate freshwater fish, mirroring human dietary signals at the site, and the animals were interred with care next to human burials. Researchers compared the new genomes with more than 1,000 modern and ancient dogs and wolves and found the Paleolithic canids were genetically distinct from contemporary wolves and closer to ancestral lineages that feed into present‑day European and Middle Eastern breeds. The work was carried out by an international consortium spanning roughly 17 institutions, including the Natural History Museum (London), University of Oxford, University of Liverpool, LMU Munich and the Francis Crick Institute. Genomic and archaeological evidence together imply a rapid dispersal of this dog lineage across western Eurasia, with closely related individuals appearing at Gough’s Cave and Pınarbaşı within a few centuries of one another.
