This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: It turns out that one of the smallest dog breeds, the Chihuahua, is part wild coyote, according to recently published genetic research. The Chihuahua breed originated in Mexico but is now a popular canine companion worldwide.
Coyote genes may have been introduced into ancestors of the Chihuahua accidentally. They may also be the result of deliberate attempts to cross the two animals—perhaps many generations ago. Coyotes are a wild canine species, slightly smaller than the gray wolf and native to North America.
The presence of coyote genes in the much smaller Chihuahua—among the most popular dogs in the UK and the US—highlights the incredible diversity of domestic dogs and their varied histories. Coyotes are untamed and territorial, while anyone who has lived with a Chihuahua knows that their small bodies house big canine personalities. Chihuahuas are the archetypal "small but mighty" dogs: bold, independent, agile, but also capable of obedience.
Small, sedentary lapdogs they are not. These findings might partly explain why. The recent study explored ancient genetic signatures in dog and human genomes to validate the effectiveness of new genetic techniques.
The genome is the full complement of DNA in living cells. The researchers demonstrated their methods on dog breeds with links to the Americas, such as the Chihuahua and another Mexican breed, the xoloitzcuintli (often shortened to xolo). The xolo is typically characterized by a lack of hair and an often aloof personality.
Many dogs in the Americas today are descended from European breeds, an outcome of colonization from the 15th century onward. However, previous research showed that the Chihuahua and xolo preserve a small amount of ancestry—4% in the Chihuahua and 3% in the xolo—from pre-contact dogs, those that lived in the Americas before Europeans arrived. Genetic analysis of the xolo in the recent study suggests that European and pre-Columbian dogs were mixing around 1700.
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