ANCIENT & NOT SO ANCIENT SIGHTHOUNDS
the genome of the Rhodesian Ridgeback, even though the Ridge- back is a breed created in the late 19th century. Genomes, however, are permanent. A portion of the Ridgeback’s genetic signature will always include the basal Koi Dog, connecting today’s breed with its ancient past. MIXING IT UP IN NORTH AFRICA Looking at the sighthound breeds found in North Africa, one might assume that they all came from the same root stock, because they are morphologically (shaped) so similarly. One of the lessons that genetic analyses of dogs has taught us is that we cannot always group dogs by their phenotypes (physical appearance). The Aza- wakh and the Sloughi provide cases in point. These two breeds are not closely related at all to the Saluki or the Afghan Hound, or even to the Greyhound. Rather, they belong to a canine grouping called “pariah dogs,” specifically, pariah dogs from sub-Saharan Africa. The Basenji also belongs to this group. Pariah dogs share a similar appearance and share a primitive origin or semi-feral con- dition. They exist throughout Africa and southeast and southwest Asia, including the Middle East. What sets the Azawakh and the Sloughi apart is their mix- ture of haplogroups that indicate they are only distantly related to the other sighthounds. They both have male Y haplogroups from European wolves, but their (maternal) mtDNA contains a rare digestive enzyme that only occurs in foxes, jackals, Italian wolves, and a few unrelated, rare dogs found only in Japan. What is going on here?! It would seem that the Azawakh and Sloughi separated very early from the dog family tree; they are very ancient breeds that may have descended from Asian wolves and may have inter- bred with African jackals. With further genetic studies of all the sighthound breeds, the Azawakh and Sloughi may well be added to the Basenji, Saluki, and the Afghan Hound as the earliest and most primitive breeds. FUTURE DISCOVERIES Sighthounds are among the most ancient of all of the approxi- mately four hundred breeds of dogs [recognized] worldwide. But because researchers have only had access to the canine genome for a short period of time, they have just begun to examine sighthounds in depth. Studies so far have focused on the origin of domestic dogs or on the genetic diseases in dogs that also afflict humans—in hopes of finding cures. Genetic research is incredibly expensive. Analyzing the genome of all of the sighthounds may take many years and require funds from the parent clubs and from geneticists interested in the breeds’ genetic origins. No doubt, as more genetic secrets are revealed within the DNA of sight- hounds, we’ll have a fuller understanding of their history and their makeup. But no genome can explain our fascination with these intriguing creatures. A version of this article first appeared in the October /November 2013 edition of Sight & Scent. RESOURCES: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_dog_breeds 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clade 3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111123132937.htm 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/science/dogs-from-fearsome-predator- to-mans-best-friend.html 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound 6. http://www.greyhoundinfo.org/?page_id=22 7. http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/05/20/dog.php 8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_dna_breed_identification#Genetics 9. http://hounddogsdrule.com/hounds/sighthounds/azawakh/ 10. http://sloughi.tripod.com/preserving/ YchromosomeOriginsofdogdomestication.html 11. http://dna-explained.com/2013/01/24/what-is-a-haplogroup/ 12. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/23/8878.full
An Azawakh demonstrating its light, fluid trot . (hounddogsdrule.com)
A Sloughi illustrates the classic shape of a Sighthound. (hounddogsdrule.com)
have disappeared over the years, but the Scottish Deerhound still remains in its ancient Celtic form. The Irish Wolfhound did his job of destroying wolves so well that this giant Celtic sighthound had all but gone extinct by the end of the 18th century. Without a job to do, breeders ceased to produce them. Through the efforts of dedicated breeders, he was recreated in the 19th century in his present form—a noble, but modern, re-creation of an ancient hound. The Whippet, then, being an admixture of Greyhound and the now extinct White English Terrier, is totally a Celtic creation, albe- it a modern one. It was the miners in the Midlands of England who created the Whippet breed in the 19th century. I’m so glad they did, since Whippets now grace our home and I think the ancient Celts would heartily approve of this eager little sighthound. Probably the biggest surprise that has come out of the genetic studies on the origins of the various dog breeds deals with dogs that we had always assumed had an ancient past. The Ibizan Hound and the Pharaoh Hound were supposed to have come down to us from ancient Egypt. (They certainly have a primitive look about them.) At least for these two breeds from the Mediterranean area, their DNA does not indicate a truly ancient history, but rather, more recent re-creations. This discovery is bound to create a stir among the breeders of the many associated Mediterranean sighthound breeds such as the Cirneco dell’Etna, the Portuguese Podengo, and the Podenco Canario, among others. More DNA studies need to be done of all the breeds from this region in order to gain a more complete picture of the genetic history of the dogs in that area. Moving south into what is now South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, indigenous populations had in their villages native dogs with ridges of backward-growing hair extending from behind the withers almost to their hip bones. Known as Koi Dogs after the Koi people with whom the dogs shared hunting forays, these dogs were definitely a basal breed at the bottom of the trunk of the domestic dog genetic tree. Their signature DNA still resides within
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