The History of Dogs: evolution, archaeology, and mythology | Full lecture (University of Wyoming)

I gave this guest lecture back in November at the University of Wyoming.

A colleague was teaching a Hunter-Gatherers class and had me come give the talk. This is an expanded version of the lecture I used to film my video on Stefan Milo’s channel. I added a lot more into it while keeping most of the information from the previous version.

As I had just gotten over two weeks of cov*d, I was a little spacey and I made a few errors while talking (in addition to some technical difficulties). But I also just had a few things flat out wrong. So I added notes and corrections where I could.

I’ll link my sources down below.
Let me know what you all think of this. I can do more lectures if you like!

Shout out Angela Perri.

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CORRECTIONS:
1) that is a video of a leopard, not a cheetah (my point being, a big cat).

2) I said this in the lecture, but I want to reiterate the status of cats being domesticated or not is still very debated. I don’t mean to say they are not..

3) I said dogs are 17,000 years older than horses, I misspoke. it would be 15,000 years. I was thinking 3000 BC. Not 3000 years ago.

4) as I added on the chalkboard in the lecture, the presence of white sclera in animal eyes is not totally exclusive to dogs, but it is by far the most pronounced among non-primate animals.

5) the widely agreed-upon date for behavioral modernity is 50,000 years ago, but there are many who argue it could’ve been up to 100 to 200,000 years ago that people were just as intelligent. I stated 50,000 years because it is at LEAST that long ago.

6) lions steal just as many kills as hyenas, if not more. However, I was just demonstrating the fascinating concepts of kleptoparasitism, as it is usually associated with hyenas. It’s part of the symbiotic mutualism hypothesis for me, that humans may have been doing this to wolves.

I’ll add more as I find them.

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Chapters:
0:00 People of the past
1:24 Prologue
1:55 Seneca creation and dogs
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3:52 INTRODUCTION
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6:04 CANINE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
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6:14 Wolf evolution
7:45 Taxonomy issues
8:30 Social behavior
10:00 Zoology/anatomy
13:11 For cat people...
15:52 Intensive breeding /modern breeds
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18:14 DOG DOMESTICATION
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19:22 Self Domestication hypothesis
20:40 Symbiotic Mutualism hypothesis
23:00 Charles Darwin tangent
25:00 Pinocchio hypothesis
25:45 Siberian fox experiment
27:41 How they were domesticated (synopsis)
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30:29 ETHNOCYNOLOGY
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31:46 Cave hyena tangent
33:08 Polynesia
34:43 Scientific evidence (Genetics and remains)
38:28 Linguistics
39:38 Cave art
41:01 Biological anthropology (oxytocin, disease, etc.)
42:37 Biotechnology (hunting, travois, packing)
44:25 Inuit/far northern dogs
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45:20 MYTHOLOGY
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45:25 Cherokee Milky Way
46:00 The Mayas
47:45 Romulus and Remus
48:50 Dogs and death
49:23 Cerberus
49:30 Anubis
51:15 Xolotl, Itquintlan, and the Aztec/ Mexicas
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54:48 CONCLUSION
56:49: Greco-Roman dog epitaphs
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Books you should read:

[allonzehe]

You're a really good public speaker. I can't watch most lectures cause the presenter says "um" between every single sentence. This lecture was fascinating and educational, thanks for posting it.

[Nadamos]

Can we take a moment to appreciate the ability we have to listen to lectures online where 30 years ago you had to be a student of zoology or anthropology to be able to enjoy this? God i love the future

[istvansipos]

"I wanna be your best friend all your life. Sadly, I don't have that much time. Thus, I'll be your best friend all MY life."
- every dog ever.

[darkstar]

I’m 50 and got my first dog two years ago and it’s been amazing. Nothing could prepare me for the bond we have. I used to laugh at people like me. I love my dog.

[TheOldHippiebilly]

I have a rescued pit bull who is definitely my best friend. I don't know who said it first, but I've always loved this quote:
"I strive to be the person my dog thinks I am."

[doradora]

Odysseus came home after 10 years. The text said he disguised himself as a frail old man, so he could catch all the "suitors" persuing Penelope off guard.
His dog Argos was the only one who recognised him and blew his cover😂🦮

Dogo is a friend for life

[johnsimmons]

I'm 75 years old and I call myself a history buff but this is the first time a lecture it brought tears to my eyes thank you

[mvzan]

Had a blonde lab growing up named Monkey. he was 2 years older than me. Even as a toddler i felt like he was on a higher cognitive level than me. I could tell he wanted nothing more than to protect me. That dog let me ride on his back like a horse like it was his life purpose.

I found a video of us playing with a balloon when i was around 1. He made sure to pick it up by the tied end so it didn’t pop….. i’m an only child but i can confidently say that dog felt like my brother. I don’t feel like i lost a pet, i feel like i lost my sibling.

[incredibleedibledez]

There was an extremely tall (probably about six foot tall) boy in my neighborhood growing up who was physically aggressive to me. One day he walked up to me while I was walking my little mutt who was between the size of a chihuahua and a chow and pushed me. My dog brought him down to the ground and stood on his chest growling until I called him away. I miss you Dino 😭

[charlibiris]

Hi I’m a dog and I’ve enjoyed your lecture a lot. Very interesting.

[c.b.]

The Roman epitaphs for their dogs has me weeping softly. They were very good dogs.

[nowhereman]

Dogs as biotechnology is one ot the most fascinating concepts I've heard in a while.

[reverselady]

Fantastic lecture - truly great. I (frankly inadvertently) adopted a Carolina Dog at the beginning of Covid. Though I have owned many dogs, never have I had the experience of domesticating a dog trapped in the wild. For three years he did not sit, but rather stood, paced, ran, or lay down to sleep. He would not drink still water. He climbed trees, took down fawns, and played very, very roughly. Now, three years on, he is a charming companion - but to this day I am glad I did not know what a long road domestication was going to be.

I was a K9 handler, all of my dogs communicated with me verbally and non verbally.
They relied on me I relied on them.
I had the sense that they loved me or bonded with me.
All in all the best friends I've ever had were my K9s

[Danielle-zqkb]

The epitaphs at the end were heartbreaking. This gave me more insight and kinship with Romans of the past than I’ve ever felt before. Thank-you!

[jundiamerican]

One aspect that I might have missed discussed but I would like to highlight is the dog’s incredible sense of smell and hearing, they are the perfect complement to humans upright posture and eye sight when hunting, the perfect hunting pair (especially when the humans got smart and covered themselves in animal skins)

[deewesthill]

At the very end, exactly as I knew I would, i was crying uncontrollably at the heartfelt epitaphs for the Romans' best friends.

[Archangelm]

We all know that friendship is magic. To my mind, it follows quite naturally that love is magic too. And the defining characteristic of all the dogs I've known is unconditional love. ❤

[alielynn]

I feel like I've found a kindred spirit! I am obsessed with the evolution of dogs. I am particularly blown away by their understanding of minute social cues that has evolved over time - eye contact, pointing, facial recognition, and permanence. Deeply fascinating. Dogs have been by our side while we discover what it means to be human, perhaps even contributing to that understanding. It's the most deeply interesting bond in all of history and I love that you share that passion!

[duanecarr]

I love your lore around the dog. Your passion is apparent. Watching you get blown away over the dog like it’s the first time every time is so good.