Origins
The exact origins of spitz-type dogs are not known, though most of the spitz-types seen today originate from the Arctic or East Asian regions. The type was described as Canis pomeranus by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revision of Systema naturae in 1788 (printed in English in 1792.)
There is no archaeological evidence showing transition stages between the wolf and the often-similar spitz-type dogs. Skeletal remains up to 5,000 years old suggest it is far more likely that the ancestors of spitz types mated with wolves. In recent genetic testing of dog breeds, many spitz-types were found to be in the group closest to wolves, presumed to be the oldest types of dogs.
Humans have intentionally mated spitz-types with wolves in more recent times to achieve or maintain the wolf-like appearance.
Read more about this topic: Spitz
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)
“The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: “Look what I killed. Aren’t I the best?””
—Katharine Hamnett (b. 1948)