Bulldogs World

dismiss any similarities between dog and wolf. Maybe someday, dog people will let it go.

First I'd like to say that I am pleasantly surprised that there are so many here who believe in evolution. I did not expect that. I love talking about evolution so if I ramble or get off subject a bit I appologize.

I think what some people fail to realize is that humans did not evolve from apes or chimps... We only share a common ancester and something like 96% DNA (according to National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0831_050831_chimp_genes_... )

I realize that no one has said here that we evolved from chimps or apes but I know it's a common misconception.

"Humans did not evolve from monkeys. Humans are more closely related to modern apes than to monkeys, but we didn't evolve from apes, either. Humans share a common ancestor with modern African apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees. Scientists believe this common ancestor existed 5 to 8 million years ago. Shortly thereafter, the species diverged into two separate lineages. One of these lineages ultimately evolved into gorillas and chimps, and the other evolved into early human ancestors called hominids." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat02.html

The first hominid was Ardipithecus Ramidus. He lived on the forest floor and was a herbivore and it's discovery was announced in October 2009.

"Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago." ..."The centerpiece of a treasure trove of new fossils, the skeleton—assigned to a species called Ardipithecus ramidus—belonged to a small-brained, 110-pound (50-kilogram) female nicknamed "Ardi.".."This find is far more important than Lucy," said Alan Walker, a paleontologist from Pennsylvania State University who was not part of the research. "It shows that the last common ancestor with chimps didn't look like a chimp, or a human, or some funny thing in between.." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091001-oldest-human-skel...

Now this means modern humans who are structurely meant to be omnivors (judging by our teeth) evolved from herbivors... so if evolution can do it with our ancestors... it can certainly do it to the modern dog (if it was needed for survival of the species. The difference is... it took BILLIONS of years for that change to happen (naturally of course).

Now as for Wolfs

"At the molecular level not much changed at all: The DNA makeup of wolves and dogs is almost identical." http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2002/01/01/html/ft_20020101.1.html

"They are just too closely related, which is what led to the Society of Mammalogists and the Smithsonian Institution's taxonomical reclassification of dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris) as a subspecies of wolf (Canis lupus) in 1993 ." http://www2.fiu.edu/~milesk/Genetics.htm

Factual statements like this are probably the reason people thinks wolves are dogs in a different skin, so to speak...  But it should be obvious that he unnatural evolution (thanks to man) has changed their outward appearance enough that hunting and tearing flesh form carcases would be impossible for many modern dogs. My Stella, for isntance, has the hardest time just picking up chunks of meat or processed raw from her bowl... I can't imagine her trying to tear flesh from a whole carcas and I know she wouldn't be an efficient hunter either. She'd spend so much energy trying to catch an animal and trying to tear the flesh from the bones... that she'd never be able to eat enough food to make up for the loss of energy. - So sure, they might be the same on the inside (for the most part) but their bone structure makes them very different.All it takes is once difference to change a species's abilities and needs.

Our bone structure is very similar to our ancestor Ramidus and yet we have some slight differences such as lack of fur/hair and teeth differences. This changes our ability to eat different foods and it probably changed our needs for certain foods.But, you certainly can't say that we are them just because they are our ancestors

I am sure that somewhere in the Wolf lineage there were some herbivors... or at least omnivors (I know that Bears branched off somewhere either before or after the wolfs and they are omnivores).. which is why dogs can still digest some plant protien not cell walls but the chewed up plant matter). They no longer need it but they can digest it.

But I agree that it's rediculous that people think that someone is wrong for not throwing whole carcases to their dogs. We domesticated these dogs, most arent structured for that sort of thing and eating n that manner (off of a large carcas) would likely be inefficient for them. - Plus, our ancestors once ate straight from carcases too and you don't see us doing that (although there are some people who eat a human raw primal diet and do eat raw meat, though I doubt they tear it off of the carcas with their own hands.