"From Wolf to Woof"

05/31/05

• Look at this picture                           (It is the front cover of the January 2002 issue of National Geographic magazine )

• In an E-Mail, describe the similarities that you  think exist between this wolf and Maltese. What other dog breeds more closely resemble wolves? (Although many dog breeds do not look  wolves, they’re all very closely related.)

• Take the online Wolves and Dogs: Fact and Fiction quiz. 

• After you have taken this quiz, answer these questions in writing:

1. What is the relationship between dogs and wolves? 

2. Approximately how long ago were dogs domesticated?

3. Question number five states that there are many dog breeds “because dogs have undergone a number of changes due to natural selection—and have also changed drastically through artificial selection for hair color, size, and temperament.” What does this mean? What is the difference between natural and artificial selection?

• Read the first paragraph of National Geographic’s Wolf to Woof: The Evolution of Dogs, which describes these possible scenarios by which dogs became domesticated:

·         Scenario 1: “Humans adopted wolf pups and natural selection favored those less aggressive and better at begging for food.”

·         Scenario 2: “Dogs domesticated themselves by adapting to a new niche—human refuse dumps. Scavenging canids that were less likely to flee from people survived in this niche, and succeeding generations became increasingly tame.”

• Discuss which of the above scenarios you think is more likely and why.

• Select and look up one of the following dog breeds at the Dog Breed Info Center and the American Kennel Club:

Alaskan Malamute  

Beagle

Doberman Pinscher

German Shepherd

Labrador Retriever

Lhasa Apso

Miniature Poodle

Newfoundland

Otterhound

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Saluki

St. Bernard

Yorkshire Terrier

As you read about your selected breed:

·         Make a note of the locations where your breed originated;

·         list your breeds’ “duties” (What did/do people use them for?); and

·         list characteristics that helped these breeds succeed in their geographical locations and in their “duties.”

Bring this information to the next class to be used in a class discussion