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Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Salomons, H; Smith, KCM; Callahan-Beckel, M; Callahan, M; Levy, K; Kennedy, BS; Bray, EE; Gnanadesikan, GE; Horschler, DJ; Gruen, M; Tan, J ...
Published in: Current biology : CB
July 2021

Although we know that dogs evolved from wolves, it remains unclear how domestication affected dog cognition. One hypothesis suggests dog domestication altered social maturation by a process of selecting for an attraction to humans.1-3 Under this account, dogs became more flexible in using inherited skills to cooperatively communicate with a new social partner that was previously feared and expressed these unusual social skills early in development.4-6 Here, we comparedog (n = 44) and wolf (n = 37) puppies, 5-18 weeks old, on a battery of temperament and cognition tasks. We find that dog puppies are more attracted to humans, read human gestures more skillfully, and make more eye contact with humans than wolf puppies. The two species are similarly attracted to familiar objects and perform similarly on non-social measures of memory and inhibitory control. These results are consistent with the idea that domestication enhanced the cooperative-communicative abilities of dogs as selection for attraction to humans altered social maturation.

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Published In

Current biology : CB

DOI

EISSN

1879-0445

ISSN

0960-9822

Publication Date

July 2021

Volume

31

Issue

14

Start / End Page

3137 / 3144.e11

Related Subject Headings

  • Wolves
  • Humans
  • Human-Animal Interaction
  • Gestures
  • Domestication
  • Dogs
  • Developmental Biology
  • Communication
  • Cognition
  • Biological Evolution
 

Citation

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Salomons, H., Smith, K. C. M., Callahan-Beckel, M., Callahan, M., Levy, K., Kennedy, B. S., … Hare, B. (2021). Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs. Current Biology : CB, 31(14), 3137-3144.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.051
Salomons, Hannah, Kyle C. M. Smith, Megan Callahan-Beckel, Margaret Callahan, Kerinne Levy, Brenda S. Kennedy, Emily E. Bray, et al. “Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs.Current Biology : CB 31, no. 14 (July 2021): 3137-3144.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.051.
Salomons H, Smith KCM, Callahan-Beckel M, Callahan M, Levy K, Kennedy BS, et al. Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs. Current biology : CB. 2021 Jul;31(14):3137-3144.e11.
Salomons, Hannah, et al. “Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs.Current Biology : CB, vol. 31, no. 14, July 2021, pp. 3137-3144.e11. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.051.
Salomons H, Smith KCM, Callahan-Beckel M, Callahan M, Levy K, Kennedy BS, Bray EE, Gnanadesikan GE, Horschler DJ, Gruen M, Tan J, White P, vonHoldt BM, MacLean EL, Hare B. Cooperative Communication with Humans Evolved to Emerge Early in Domestic Dogs. Current biology : CB. 2021 Jul;31(14):3137-3144.e11.
Journal cover image

Published In

Current biology : CB

DOI

EISSN

1879-0445

ISSN

0960-9822

Publication Date

July 2021

Volume

31

Issue

14

Start / End Page

3137 / 3144.e11

Related Subject Headings

  • Wolves
  • Humans
  • Human-Animal Interaction
  • Gestures
  • Domestication
  • Dogs
  • Developmental Biology
  • Communication
  • Cognition
  • Biological Evolution