The Wolf Within: A Genetic History of Man's Best Friend

How extraordinary is the everyday sight of a human walking his dog — a highly evolved primate and a savage carnivore, whose ancestors were once mortal enemies, living side by side as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Whether we like to think so or not, everything about a dog, from its appearance to its senses and behaviours, is just a version of the wolf, albeit attenuated or enhanced by at least 20,000 years of selection. Selection has done amazing things to create today’s dog, but the scaffolding on which it is built remains that of the wolf.