Dr. Krishna Veeramah on Ancient European Dog Genomes

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Clara Tran

Dr. Veeramah presented “Ancient European Dog Genomes Reveal Continuity Since the Early Neolithic” for the University Libraries STEM Speakers Series on October 3, 2017.
By analyzing two genomic sequences of 7,000 and 4,700 year old dog remains from two German archaeological sites, and the genetic sequence of a 4,800 year old dog remain from Ireland, Dr. Veeramah showed us that ancient and modern European dogs are related. Yet determining when, where, and how ancient dogs were domesticated remains challenging. Data collected by Dr. Veeramah’s research team supports a single domestication event that occurred in one location about 20,000-40,000 years ago. Pivotal to this single domestication event may have been gene selection for neural crest development.