Dogs were selfish wolves, scientists have found
MOSCOW, 16 Oct — RIA Novosti. An unusual experiment conducted among several groups of domestic dogs and wild wolves, have shown that the “orderlies of the forest” are much more inclined to cooperate with their own kind than “man’s best friend”, says the article, published in the journal PNAS.
“Today, our many colleagues believe that the evolution of dogs and the man largely went on the same journey — people and dogs gradually became more friendly to themselves and to each other, and studied together to solve complex problems. On the other hand, as it is today the dogs live and how they live wolves, suggests otherwise. We tested which of these theories is correct,” writes Friederike Rank (Friederike Range) from the University of Vienna (Austria).
One of the distinguishing features of wolves, the ancestors of modern dogs is their unsociable and an inability to empathize and to help others. In some languages, including in Russian, the word “wolf” has become a symbol of these qualities that, as a fairly long thought evolutionists were gradually “withdrawn” from the ancestors of the dogs during their domestication.
On the other hand, as noted by Rank, wolves usually live in fairly large flocks, the members of which, according to some researchers, and coordinate their actions while hunting and foraging together. Other zoologists doubt the presence of similar ability, wolves and believe that every animal is guided only by their personal interests in pursuit of prey, without thinking or caring about other dogs.