Late Pleistocene Onset of Mutualistic Human/Canid Relationships in Subarctic Alaska

An article by François Lanoë (SoA Assistant Research Professor), and Joshua Reuther (SoA PhD, 2013), “Late Pleistocene Onset of Mutualistic Human/Canid Relationships in Subarctic Alaska” was published in Science Advances. You can read the paper at this link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads1335

Abstract: Large canids (wolves, dogs, and coyote) and people form a close relationship in northern (subarctic and arctic) socioecological systems. Here, we document the antiquity of this bond and the multiple ways it manifested in interior Alaska, a region key to understanding the peopling of the Americas and early northern lifeways. We compile original and existing genomic, isotopic, and osteological canid data from archaeological, paleontological, and modern sites. Results show that in contrast to canids recovered in non-anthropic contexts, canids recovered in association with human occupations are markedly diverse. They include multiple species and intraspecific lineages, morphological variation, and diets ranging from terrestrial to marine. This variation is expressed along both geographic and temporal gradients, starting in the terminal Pleistocene with canids showing high marine dietary estimates. This paper provides evidence of the multiple ecological relationships between canids and people in the north—from predation, probable commensalism, and taming, to domestication—and of their early onset.