Genetic Status
During genetic analysis regarding the origin of the Australian dingo, the scientists found the mtDNA-type A29 among Australian dingoes, as well as domestic dogs from the islands of South-East Asia, North America, East Asia and New Guinea Singings Dogs. This mtDNA-type fell in a phylogenetic tree of wolf-and dog-types right in the main clade of domestic dog mtDNA-types (70% of the mtDNA-types). Furthermore the Singers had a unique mtDNA-type that differed from A29 by two point mutations: This showed the real possibility of a shared origin with Australian dingoes, as well as a genetic exchange and affiliation with the domestic dog. Are the dingoes of Australia descended from New Guinea Singing Dogs or the other way around? Since Papua New Guinea and Australia were connected via a land-bridge until 6,000 years ago, traveling from one to the other would have been possible. Further DNA-analysis may show that Thai dingoes are also closely related to New Guinea Singing Dogs. It has been theorized that Singers and Australian Dingoes might demonstrate a genetic line that separated itself from other dogs about 4,600 to 10,800 years ago. As long as nothing contrary was proven, a person has to assume that the current isolation of NGSD from village dogs makes interbreeding/hybridization unlikely.
The most current genetic research was completed by Australian scientist Dr. Alan Wilton from the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. In all, there were thirty-seven researchers from around the globe who took part in data collection and analysis. News of the study was released to newspapers on 18 March 2010. Research revolved around analysis of 48,000 genome sites found in hundreds of wolves and over a thousand dogs. The overwhelming conclusions showed that genetically, the Australian Dingo and the New Guinea Singing Dog are closely related to each other. In fact, they are so closely related that the AU Dingo database may be used to ascertain purity in Singing Dog DNA sampling. Additionally, the study concluded that New Guinea Singing Dog and Australian Dingo DNA is unique from all other canidae and is easily identified. They found AU Dingoes and New Guinea Singing Dogs to be the oldest of the ancient breeds, dating back at least 4,000 years. Singers belong in the Asian group, sharing it with dingo, Chinese Shar-pei, Chow-chow and Akita. This internationally recognized study collated at American universities UCLA and Cornell was published in the science journal Nature.
There was a time when the New Guinea Singing Dog was not considered worthy of study, since they were considered feral domestic dogs. Nowadays however, archaeozoologists who promote protection of these dogs argue that Singers are a living relic of the earliest dogs and at least a part of the heritage of the people of Papua New Guinea. The Singer is regarded as being worthy of protection, since the captive population is highly inbred and the wild population is probably excluded from several parts of its original distribution area. The Department of Environment and Conservation in New Guinea has announced protection measures.
The importance of the New Guinea Dingo lies in its evolutionary age and purity as an evolutionary unit. These facts together with several unique genetic, behavioral, ecological, reproductive and morphological characteristics form the basis for its conservation.
Read more about this topic: New Guinea Singing Dog
Famous quotes containing the words genetic and/or status:
“Man is not merely the sum of his masks. Behind the shifting face of personality is a hard nugget of self, a genetic gift.... The self is malleable but elastic, snapping back to its original shape like a rubber band. Mental illness is no myth, as some have claimed. It is a disturbance in our sense of possession of a stable inner self that survives its personae.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)