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Specialized sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North American Arctic

Ameen, Carly; Feuerborn, Tatiana R.; Brown, Sarah K.; Linderholm, Anna; Hulme-Beaman, Ardern; Lebrasseur, Ophélie; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Lounsberry, Zachary T.; Lin, Audrey T.; Appelt, Martin; Bachmann, Lutz; Betts, Matthew; Britton, Kate; Darwent, John; Dietz, Rune; Fredholm, Merete; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Goriunova, Olga I.; Grønnow, Bjarne; Haile, James; Hallsson, Jón Hallsteinn; Harrison, Ramona; Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter; Knecht, Rick; Losey, Robert J.; Masson-MacLean, Edouard; McGovern, Thomas H.; McManus-Fry, Ellen; Meldgaard, Morten; Midtdal, Åslaug; Moss, Madonna L.; Nikitin, Iurii G.; Nomokonova, Tatiana; Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda; Perri, Angela; Popov, Aleksandr N.; Rankin, Lisa; Reuther, Joshua D.; Sablin, Mikhail; Schmidt, Anne Lisbeth; Shirar, Scott; Smiarowski, Konrad; Sonne, Christian; Stiner, Mary C.; Vasyukov, Mitya; West, Catherine F.; Ween, Gro Birgit; Wennerberg, Sanne Eline; Wiig, Øystein; Woollett, James; Dalén, Love; Hansen, Anders J.; P. Gilbert, M. Thoma...

Authors

Carly Ameen

Tatiana R. Feuerborn

Sarah K. Brown

Anna Linderholm

Ardern Hulme-Beaman

Ophélie Lebrasseur

Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding

Zachary T. Lounsberry

Audrey T. Lin

Martin Appelt

Lutz Bachmann

Matthew Betts

Kate Britton

John Darwent

Rune Dietz

Merete Fredholm

Shyam Gopalakrishnan

Olga I. Goriunova

Bjarne Grønnow

James Haile

Jón Hallsteinn Hallsson

Ramona Harrison

Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen

Rick Knecht

Robert J. Losey

Edouard Masson-MacLean

Thomas H. McGovern

Ellen McManus-Fry

Morten Meldgaard

Åslaug Midtdal

Madonna L. Moss

Iurii G. Nikitin

Tatiana Nomokonova

Albína Hulda Pálsdóttir

Angela Perri

Aleksandr N. Popov

Lisa Rankin

Joshua D. Reuther

Mikhail Sablin

Anne Lisbeth Schmidt

Scott Shirar

Konrad Smiarowski

Christian Sonne

Mary C. Stiner

Mitya Vasyukov

Catherine F. West

Gro Birgit Ween

Sanne Eline Wennerberg

Øystein Wiig

James Woollett

Love Dalén

Anders J. Hansen

M. Thomas P. Gilbert

Benjamin N. Sacks

Laurent Frantz

Greger Larson

Keith Dobney

Christyann M. Darwent

Allowen Evin



Abstract

Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but whether the Inuit adopted local Palaeo-Inuit dogs or introduced a new dog population to the region remains unknown. To test these hypotheses, we generated mitochondrial DNA and geometric morphometric data of skull and dental elements from a total of 922 North American Arctic dogs and wolves spanning over 4500 years. Our analyses revealed that dogs from Inuit sites dating from 2000 BP possess morphological and genetic signatures that distinguish them from earlier Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and identified a novel mitochondrial clade in eastern Siberia and Alaska. The genetic legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in modern Arctic sledge dogs despite phenotypic differences between archaeological and modern Arctic dogs. Together, our data reveal that Inuit dogs derive

Citation

Ameen, C., Feuerborn, T. R., Brown, S. K., Linderholm, A., Hulme-Beaman, A., Lebrasseur, O., …Evin, A. (2019). Specialized sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North American Arctic. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1916), Article 20191929. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1929

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 5, 2019
Online Publication Date Nov 27, 2019
Publication Date Nov 27, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 30, 2020
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN 0962-8452
Electronic ISSN 1471-2954
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 286
Issue 1916
Article Number 20191929
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1929

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