This timing indicates that the dog was the first species to be domesticated in the time of hunter–gatherers, which predates agriculture. Earlier remains dating back to 30,000 years ago have been described as Paleolithic dogs, but their status as dogs or wolves remains debated because considerable morphological diversity existed among wolves during the Late Pleistocene. The dog was dated to 14,223 years ago and was found buried along with a man and a woman, all three having been sprayed with red hematite powder and buried under large, thick basalt blocks. Contextual, isotopic, genetic, and morphological evidence shows that this dog was not a local wolf. The earliest remains generally accepted to be those of a domesticated dog were discovered in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany. In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/Species Survival Commission's Canid Specialist Group considered the dingo and the New Guinea singing dog to be feral Canis familiaris and therefore did not assess them for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Mammalogists have noted the inclusion of familiaris and dingo together under the 'domestic dog' clade with some debating it. Wozencraft referred to the mtDNA study as one of the guides informing his decision. Wozencraft included hallstromi (the New Guinea singing dog) as another name ( junior synonym) for the dingo. Christopher Wozencraft listed under the wolf Canis lupus its wild subspecies and proposed two additional subspecies, which formed the domestic dog clade: familiaris, as named by Linnaeus in 1758 and, dingo named by Meyer in 1793. In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. In 1999, a study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) indicated that the domestic dog may have originated from the grey wolf, with the dingo and New Guinea singing dog breeds having developed at a time when human communities were more isolated from each other. Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from the wolf because of its upturning tail ( cauda recurvata), which is not found in any other canid. He classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris and, on the next page, classified the grey wolf as Canis lupus. Canis is the Latin word meaning 'dog', and under this genus, he listed the domestic dog, the wolf, and the golden jackal. In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae, the two-word naming of species ( binomial nomenclature). Taxonomyįurther information: Canis lupus dingo § Taxonomic debate – the domestic dog, dingo, and New Guinea singing dog

This influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of ' man's best friend'. Over the millennia, dogs became uniquely adapted to human behavior, and the human–canine bond has been a topic of frequent study. They perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and the military, companionship, therapy, and aiding disabled people. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. The dog has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals and gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids. Hunter-gatherers did this, over 15,000 years ago in Oberkassel, Bonn, which was before the development of agriculture. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans.

Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from extinct Pleistocene wolves, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. The dog ( Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris ) is a domesticated descendant of the wolf.

List of dog commands and hand signals