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cwalt

MH
Posts:180

07/30/2008 8:56 AM
I think we can go even further with this idea, right to the very reason the relationship between man and dog exists. I read an interesting book a while ago called "The Truth About Dogs An Inquiry Into the Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris" By STEPHEN BUDIANSKY. In it, the author makes a fairly convincing case for the idea that dogs are in fact parasites. And, like all parasites, they evolved by finding the chink in the host's armour that allows them to survive. Unlike other parasites however, the chink is not a physical one, no cut in the skin, no insect vector, rather it is a chink in our psychological makeup. Humans have an enormous desire to nurture the young and helpless, we show great empathy towards cute cuddly creatures that whine and lick our faces, and we have a huge ego that requires almost constant stroking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Haven't read Budiansky yet but the idea that an enormously successful species is a social parasite is quite interesting. I think I would prefer to call them commensals, an ecologist's term that means 'living together'. The reason for this is that both partners in the relationship gain remarkable survival advantages from the partnering. For humans canine contact assure lowered heart rates, lowered blood pressure, increased endorphin levels and, for many older individuals a reason to exist. No species consciously adapts to a symbiotic relationship, it just happens... it's evolution. The oldest association between man and dog that can be proven by artifacts is about 15,000 years ago but I am convinced that the relationship is actually more than 50,000 years old. Dingos came to Australia as a domesticated species that became feral (wild) something on the order of 35-40,000 years ago according to one author. When some Asiatics migrated into N. America via the Bering strait route about 15,000 years ago they brought domesticated dogs with them. Some of the latest genetic studies suggest that dogs separated from wolves in at least four speciation events but there is no certainty about the timing of those episodes. I would call the relationship between dogs and humans a consequence of coevolution since most people instinctively know the body language signals to calm an uncertain dog... signals that we display to no other species. Dogs can recognize and interpret human body language with such astonishing facility that I suggest isn't entirely learned behavior. Dogs certainly understand our emotional states from our body language and facial expressions and with concentration and study we can do exactly the same with them. Cj

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