Re: apes and men
david l burkhead (david8@dax.cc.uakron.edu)
4 Aug 1996 01:17:17 GMT
In article <32036262.3237@megafauna.com> steve@megafauna.com writes:
[ 8< ]
>Be careful here. I don't have any sure knowledge that dogs and jackals
>*can't* produce fertile offspring, but I do know that Konrad Lorenz
>(famous ethologist) once speculated that dogs are descended from *both*
>wolves and jackals. This is totally discredited -- dogs descend only
>from wolves, and in fact both wolves and dogs should be classified as
>the same species. Lorenz himself acknowledges that he was wrong.
Exactly, that was the whole point of the piece I was reading.
The differing chromosome number was the reason given for rejecting the
crossbreed hypothesis. One of the points brought up is that crosses
between jackals and either wolves or dogs leave chromosomal evidence
that is completely lacking in modern dogs.
Again, I read this several years ago and cannot completely vouch
for either my memory or my original source.
--
David L. Burkhead "If I had eight hours to cut down
david8@dax.cc.uakron.edu a tree, I'd spend seven sharpening
FAX: 330-253-4490 my axe." Attributed to Abraham
SpaceCub Lincoln
|