At the invitation of Professor Dong Guanghui, from the Key Laboratory of Western Chinese Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University. Researcher Wang Guodong, a researcher from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave an academic report entitled "Origin, domestication, and the genetic basis on complex traits of dogs" to teachers and students in Lanzhou University on 21st March 2023. The report was chaired by professor Guanghui Dong from the College of Resources and Environment of Lanzhou University.
Since domestication, the domestic dog has always been an important companion animal in human society. The use of ancient DNA technology to study the missing link in the migration of domestic dogs has become a hot research topic. Researcher Wang Guodong systematically introduced the existing origin and transmission history of various domestic dogs. With the development of ancient DNA technology, more evidence has emerged on the origin and migration of domestic dogs, and the previous studies and conclusions have been constantly revised and improved. It is believed that domestic dogs were domesticated in Southeast Asia about 33,000 years ago and spread to northern East Asia about 10,500 years ago and Southwest Asia about 15,000 years ago. In the Paleolithic Age, there was an independent domestication event of domestic dogs in Europe, and the East Asian domestic dogs spread to Europe with human migration and replaced the previous domestic dogs in the region. However, the transmission history of domestic dogs in East Asia is still unclear. Next, researcher Wang Guodong introduced two genetic studies on this problem in recent years. The DNA analysis of gray Wolf skin showed that gray wolves in the Qinghai region were closely related to gray wolves in southern China. Domestic dogs from Tianluoshan Site in Zhejiang, China, dating back to 7500 years ago, are genetically the ancestors of Southeast Asian and Australian wild dogs. This study suggests that there may have been a human migration route from southern East Asia through Southeast Asia to Australia. He also introduced natural and artificial selection and the genetic mechanism of complex traits in the domestication process of domestic dogs. He pointed out that the study of the ancient gene of domestic dogs is an important supplement to the understanding of the history of communication between ancient populations, and also an important basis for the study of the history of coevolution between humans and domestic dogs.
After the report, researcher Wang Guodong had a full discussion with the participating teachers and students on cross-regional communication in prehistoric times and the uniqueness of the history of the domestication of domestic dogs. The exchange laid a good foundation for future in-depth cooperation between the Kunming Institute of Zoology and Lanzhou University in the field of environmental archaeology.