Dear Weronika, your query is thought-provoking, and if you're working on a
thesis for a degree, or a postdoc study, I think this is quite exciting as
a topic. Building on Mat's comment about the Maori Kuri dog: he must mean
that the Maori dog, brought to the islands of New Zealand originally by
Polynesians from other places, later hybridized with dogs brought in by
white settlers after Captain Cook. This would be domestic X domestic
hybridization.
But what about wild X domestic hybridization? There is mounting evidence
-- and I am currently engaged upon this problem myself -- to show that
North American coyote females are frequently covered by larger breeds of
domestic dogs. So much so that perhaps as many as 30% of all the "coyotes"
that one may see are actually coydogs.
Canids of the genus Canis are, apparently, more able in terms of their
genetic structure to produce offspring that are reproductively viable, so
that a male coydog may mate with another coydog, a coyote, or a domestic
bitch and get puppies who are also reproductively viable. In other words,
perfect introgression is possible.
Besides the coyote-dog hybridization, there has also been a long
controversy, beginning with Mike Novacek's papers back from the 1970's, on
whether the Red Wolf of the southern Great Plains is a "real" species or a
hybrid. Novacek has stood firm, and I agree with him based on available
evidence, that the Red Wolf is not a hybrid. However, it is also true that
ordinary gray wolves often hybridize with domestic dogs; there is a
literature on 'black dogs' which supposedly are wolf X dog hybrids from
New England. For some reason, both coyote X dog and wolf X dog hybrids
often have black or very dark pelage. Hope this helps. -- Dr. Deb
> Weronika
>
> Exactly the same thing happened with the Maori dog in New Zealand, I can
> send you some key references off line
>
> Mat
>
>
>
> *From:* Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites <
> [log in to unmask]> *On Behalf Of *Weronika Tomczyk
> *Sent:* Monday, 14 May 2018 3:19 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* [ZOOARCH] animal hybridization by neglect
>
>
>
> Dear Zooarchers,
>
>
>
> Recently I have been wondering about the examples of animal hybridization
> (mainly mammals) caused not by intentional human action, but rather due to
> negligence or ignorance. So far I know that modern camelids are actually
> hybrids of pre-Conquest species and that British Columbia's Salish Wool
> Dog
> disappeared in the colonial times due to the lack of controlled breeding
> and intermixing with other dogs. Does anybody know any other examples or
> can recommend some literature? All comments will be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Weronika
>
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