This is such a great picture, I had to share it with you, just in case you missed it in the morning news...The article that accompanies the picture is about finding the gene that is found in all dogs under 20 pounds and is guessed to be inherited from a miniature wolf about 15,000 years ago, even though it has since disappeared from the modern wolf population.
It continues in dogs because of human intervention - selectively breeding the smallest dogs to continue the line.
Another interesting fact from the article is how much humans and canines have in common - we share 85% of our genetic makeup and 300 common diseases, including high blood pressure and cancer.
The only anomaly is that this gene can sometimes be found in Rottweilers and Mastiffs, so scientists know this isn't the whole story but one that plays with other interactions. They continue to study but see this as a big first piece of the puzzle. They also noted that they've yet to discover why small dogs think they can act like big dogs. I'll definitely be interested in the answer to that one...
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