In one of the latest news releases related to dogs, it was found that a dog known for its howling sound was believed to be extinct for over fifty years, however, it was reported to be spotted again. As such, traces of this unique New Guinea dog have made people believe that it still exists. The DNA collected by a field researcher proved that these dogs still live on the earth.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences proved that these dogs are not simple village dogs that go extinct in the wild. It seems they have been domesticated in Oceania and Asia.
According to a conservationist at Oxford University, Claudio Sillero, the analysis proves that there is a close relation between New Guinea and Australia dogs, the oldest domestic creature on earth.
The Discovery of The Singing Dog
James McIntyre is the researcher and president of the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation. He played a vital role in the discovery. First, he searched for this breed of singing dogs in the Rocky Mountains. In 1996, this mountainous region had been divided into Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Mcintrye’s studies, especially his degrees in zoology and education, had a significant influence. This was crucial in the discovery. With immense experience working at zoos and serving as a biology teacher, McIntyre shared insights on the latest discovery of singing dogs.
Dogs in Zoos
The population of dogs in zoos is quite alarming. Some are even treated as pets. For over 50 years they remained untraceable in the wild. However, one dog’s image in Indonesia’s Papua province captured by a tourist guide caught everybody’s attention. With the image of the wild dog making its rounds, McIntyre began his discovery. As time passed, McIntyre, with funding from a mining company, managed to get 149 images of around 15 dogs.
McIntyre commented that the dogs are better known as Highland wild dogs. People from Caucasia named them the New Guinea Singing Dog. But the question that remains unanswered is, are these dogs the same singing dogs that were thought to be extinct?
The Investigation
Interested to find the truth, McIntyre set off to Papua and collected the DNA of wild dogs. It was found their DNA matched the DNA of the singing dogs and their ancestors.
The news of this discovery surprised Heidi G. Parker, who belonged to the National Institutes of Health after Parker found the DNA samples’ resemblance with the singing dogs that McIntyre had brought to light. After the DNA was examined, it was clear that although they were believed to be extinct, they still exist.
Summary
As per Elaine A. Ostrander, who co-authored the report, the discovery is significant in understanding dogs’ domestication. There exists a relationship between New Guinea Dogs and Australian dingoes, and they are closely related to Asian dogs that drifted to Oceania with human beings about 3500 years ago. During that time, the singing dogs branched out from an ancestor that produced Shiba Inu and Akita’s breeds.