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Gündemir O, Koungoulos L, Szara T, Duro S, Spataru M, Michaud M, Onar V. Cranial morphology of Balkan and West Asian livestock guardian dogs. J Anat 2023; 243:951-959. [PMID: 37434433 PMCID: PMC10641034 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Several large "shepherd" or livestock guardian dog (LGD) breeds were historically selectively bred to protect sheep and goat flocks in the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus regions. Although these breeds exhibit similar behavior, their morphology is different. Yet, the fine characterization of the phenotypic differences remains to be analyzed. The aim of this study is to characterize cranial morphology in the specific Balkan and West Asian LGD breeds. We use a 3D geometric morphometric in order to assess morphological differences regarding both shape and size between LGD breeds and compare this phenotypic diversity to close relative wild canids. Our results indicate that Balkan and Anatolian LGDs form a distinct cluster within a relatively large dog cranial size and shape diversity. Most LGDs display a cranial morphology that could be described as intermediate to the mastiff breeds and large herding dogs, except for the Romanian Mioritic shepherd which has a more brachycephalic cranium strongly resembling the bully-type dog cranial morphotype. Although often considered to represent an ancient type of dog, the Balkan-West Asian LGDs are clearly distinguishable from wolves, dingoes, and most other primitive and spitz-type dogs and this group displays a surprising cranial diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ozan Gündemir
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineIstanbul University‐CerrahpaşaIstanbulTurkey
| | - Loukas Koungoulos
- Department of ArchaeologyThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Tomasz Szara
- Department of Morphological SciencesInstitute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences‐SGGWWarsawPoland
| | - Sokol Duro
- Faculty of Veterinary MedicineAgricultural University of TiranaTiranaAlbania
| | - Mihaela‐Claudia Spataru
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineIasi University of Life SciencesIasiRomania
| | - Margot Michaud
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics LabUniversité de LiègeLiègeBelgium
| | - Vedat Onar
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineIstanbul University‐CerrahpaşaIstanbulTurkey
- Osteoarchaeology Practice and Research CentreIstanbul University‐CerrahpaşaIstanbulTurkey
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Gündemir O, Duro S, Szara T, Koungoulos L, Jashari T, Demircioğlu İ, Hadžiomerović N, Ilieski V, Melnyk OP, Melnyk OO. Skull variation in different breeds sheep from Balkan countries. Ann Anat 2023; 249:152083. [PMID: 36935088 DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2023.152083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
The Balkan Peninsula region has a very diverse agricultural and livestock tradition, and almost every country has its own local breed of sheep. Different breeds of sheep and different breeding traditions, despite the small geographical distance, determine the morphological and morphometric variability among animal breeds. In this study, this morphological diversity among the skulls of sheep breeds of some countries in the Balkan region was examined by the geometric morphometric method. 2D images of 86 sheep skulls from five different countries were analyzed from the dorsal view.Sixteen landmarks were used. The Bardhoka and the Ivesi breed have the broadest distributions of skull shape amongst the sheep breeds. The Ruda sheep is the most morphologically conservative. The sheep from Turkey (Ivesi) and Kosovo (Bardhoka) seem to differ mainly from sheep from other Balkan countries. Bardhoka and Ruda differ most from each other (p < 0.0001). The next biggest differences were between Ivesi and Ruda (p < 0.0011) and between Bardhoka and Sharri sheep (p < 0.0016). The sheep breeds Dubska and Lara e Polisit differ the least from each other. Geometrics morphometric analysis is a useful tool to detect differences in the shape of the skull of different sheep breeds and can therefore be used successfully for taxonomic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ozan Gündemir
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul 34500, Turkey
| | - Sokol Duro
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Tirana, 1029 Tirana, Albania
| | - Tomasz Szara
- Department of Morphological Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Loukas Koungoulos
- Department of Archaeology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tefik Jashari
- Institute of Graduate Studies, Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa, Istanbul 34500, Turkey
| | - İsmail Demircioğlu
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Harran University, 63200 Şanlıurfa, Turkey
| | - Nedžad Hadžiomerović
- Department of Anatomy and Histology with Embryology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Vlatko Ilieski
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
| | - Oleg P Melnyk
- Department of Animal Anatomy, Histology and Pathomorphology, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine
| | - Oleksii O Melnyk
- Department of Animal Anatomy, Histology and Pathomorphology, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine
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Donfrancesco V, Allen BL, Appleby R, Behrendorff L, Conroy G, Crowther MS, Dickman CR, Doherty T, Fancourt BA, Gordon CE, Jackson SM, Johnson CN, Kennedy MS, Koungoulos L, Letnic M, Leung LK, Mitchell KJ, Nesbitt B, Newsome T, Pacioni C, Phillip J, Purcell BV, Ritchie EG, Smith BP, Stephens D, Tatler J, van Eeden LM, Cairns KM. Understanding conflict among experts working on controversial species: A case study on the Australian dingo. Conservat Sci and Prac 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Benjamin L. Allen
- University of Southern Queensland Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment Toowoomba Queensland Australia
- Centre for African Conservation Ecology Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
| | - Rob Appleby
- Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security Griffith University Nathan Queensland Australia
| | - Linda Behrendorff
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences University of Queensland Gatton Queensland Australia
| | - Gabriel Conroy
- Genecology Research Centre, School of Science, Technology and Engineering University of the Sunshine Coast Maroochydore DC Queensland Australia
| | - Mathew S. Crowther
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Christopher R. Dickman
- Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Tim Doherty
- Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Bronwyn A. Fancourt
- Ecosystem Management, School of Environmental and Rural Science University of New England Armidale New South Wales Australia
| | - Christopher E. Gordon
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World Aarhus University Aarhus C Denmark
| | - Stephen M. Jackson
- Collection Care and Conservation Australian Museum Research Institute Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Chris N. Johnson
- School of Natural Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage University of Tasmania Hobart Tasmania Australia
| | - Malcolm S. Kennedy
- Threatened Species Operations Department of Environment and Science Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Loukas Koungoulos
- Department of Archaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Mike Letnic
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Luke K.‐P. Leung
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences University of Queensland Gatton Queensland Australia
| | - Kieren J. Mitchell
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, School of Biological Sciences University of Adelaide Adelaide South Australia Australia
| | - Bradley Nesbitt
- School of Environmental and Rural Science University of New England Armidale New South Wales Australia
| | - Thomas Newsome
- Global Ecology Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Carlo Pacioni
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Arthur Rylah Institute Heidelberg Victoria Australia
- Environmental and Conservation Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch Western Australia Australia
| | | | - Brad V. Purcell
- Kangaroo Management Program Office of Environment and Heritage Dubbo New South Wales Australia
| | - Euan G. Ritchie
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Integrative Ecology Deakin University Burwood Victoria Australia
| | - Bradley P. Smith
- College of Psychology, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences CQUniversity Australia Wayville South Australia Australia
| | | | - Jack Tatler
- Narla Environmental Pty Ltd Warriewood New South Wales Australia
| | - Lily M. van Eeden
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Arthur Rylah Institute Heidelberg Victoria Australia
| | - Kylie M. Cairns
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
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Brumm A, Germonpré M, Koungoulos L. The human-initiated model of wolf domestication - An expansion based on human-dingo relations in Aboriginal Australia. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1082338. [PMID: 37205085 PMCID: PMC10187142 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1082338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The historically known relationship of interspecies companionship between Aboriginal foraging communities in Australia and free-ranging dingoes provides a model for understanding the human-canid relations that gave rise to the first domesticated dogs. Here, we propose that a broadly similar relationship might have developed early in time between wild-living wolves and mobile groups of foragers in Late Pleistocene Eurasia, with hunter-gatherers routinely raiding wild wolf dens for pre-weaned pups, which were socialized to humans and kept in camp as tamed companions ("pets"). We outline a model in which captive wolf pups that reverted to the wild to breed when they were sexually mature established their territories in the vicinity of foraging communities - in a "liminal" ecological zone between humans and truly wild-living wolves. Many (or most) of the wolf pups humans took from the wilderness to rear in camp may have derived from these liminal dens where the breeding pairs had been under indirect human selection for tameness over many generations. This highlights the importance of the large seasonal hunting/aggregation camps associated with mammoth kill-sites in Gravettian/Epigravettian central Europe. Large numbers of foragers gathered regularly at these locations during the wild wolf birthing season. We infer that if a pattern of this kind occurred over long periods of time then there might have been a pronounced effect on genetic variation in free-ranging wolves that denned and whelped in the liminal zones in the vicinity of these human seasonal aggregation sites. The argument is not that wolves were domesticated in central Europe. Rather, it is this pattern of hunter-gatherers who caught and reared wild wolf pups gathering seasonally in large numbers that might have been the catalyst for the early changes leading to the first domesticated dogs - whether in western Eurasia or further afield.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Brumm
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- *Correspondence: Adam Brumm,
| | | | - Loukas Koungoulos
- School of Humanities, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, NSW, Australia
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