Wolves Among Us

A pioneering genetics expert sheds new light on the wild beasts that became humans’ best friend in his new book, Once a Wolf

- Michael Merschel

“ WE OWE OUR SURVIVAL TO THE D O G. AND THEY OWE THEIRS TO US.”

So writes Bryan Sykes—scientist, a pioneering professor of human genetics at Oxford University and best-selling author, as well as someone who knows more than a bit about both humans and canines and their history. In his latest book, he dives deep into the DNA and fossil record to explain your dog’s family tree.

To Sykes, this is not the familiar story of the “domestication” of a fierce, flesh-hungry hunter into a household pet. “It is also about the other side of the equation: How it was that our own species, equally aggressive carnivores, formed such a special relationship with what, it seems, is a most unlikely ally.”

The relationship, he suggests, is what helped our ancestors to conquer other human species and eventually the entire planet. Direct scientific evidence about the ways humans and wolves learned to work together is scant, he acknowledges, saying that “I feel sure that something important must have happened in the Upper Paleolithic to explain our survival at the expense of the Neanderthals.”

Sykes spoke with Newsweek about the co-evolution of man and his best friend.

How long have humans and canines been a team?