This is a tribute to our best friend, so happy and colorful. The
domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a subspecies of the gray
wolf (Canis lupus), a member of the Canidae family of the mammalian
order Carnivora. The term "domestic dog" is generally used for both
domesticated and feral varieties. The dog was the first
domesticated animal and has been the most widely kept working,
hunting, and pet animal in human history. The word "dog" can also
refer to the male of a canine species, as opposed to the word
"bitch" which refers to the female of the species. Recent studies
of "well-preserved remains of a dog-like canid from the
Razboinichya Cave" in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia
concluded that a particular instance of early wolf domestication
approximately 33,000 years ago did not result in modern dog
lineages, possibly because of climate disruption during the Last
Glacial Maximum. The authors postulate that at least several such
incipient events have occurred. A study of fossil dogs and wolves
in Belgium, Ukraine, and Russia tentatively dates domestication
from 14,000 years ago to more than 31,700 years ago. Another recent
study has found support for claims of dog domestication between
14,000 and 16,000 years ago, with a range between 9,000 and 34,000
years ago, depending on mutation rate assumptions. Dogs' value to
early human hunter-gatherers led to them quickly becoming
ubiquitous across world cultures. Dogs perform many roles for
people, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection,
assisting police and military, companionship, and, more recently,
aiding handicapped individuals. This impact on human society has
given them the nickname "man's best friend" in the Western world.
In some cultures, however, dogs are also a source of meat. In 2001,
there were estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world. Most
breeds of dog are at most a few hundred years old, having been
artificially selected for particular morphologies and behaviors by
people for specific functional roles. Through this selective
breeding, the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and
shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other
land mammal. For example, height measured to the withers ranges
from 15.2 centimetres (6.0 in) in the Chihuahua to about 76 cm (30
in) in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays
(usually called "blue") to black, and browns from light (tan) to
dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; coats
can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly,
or smooth. It is common for most breeds to shed this coat. Dog is
the common use term that refers to members of the subspecies Canis
lupus familiaris (canis, "dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a
household" or "domestic"). The term can also be used to refer to a
wider range of related species, such as the members of the genus
Canis, or "true dogs," including the wolf, coyote, and jackals, or
it can refer to the members of the tribe Canini, which would also
include the African wild dog, or it can be used to refer to any
member of the family Canidae, which would also include the foxes,
bush dog, raccoon dog, and others. Some members of the family have
dog in their common names, such as the raccoon dog and the African
wild dog. A few animals have dog in their common names but are not
canids, such as the prairie dog. The English word dog comes from
Middle English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog
breed." In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English: hund) was
the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a
subtype of hound, a group including the mastiff. It is believed
this "dog" type was so common, it eventually became the prototype
of the category "hound." By the 16th century, dog had become the
general word, and hound had begun to refer only to types used for
hunting.
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