Dogs first came to the Americas nearly 16,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. These dogs remained on the continent for thousands of years until they suddenly disappeared from the historical narrative. In their place stood European canine breeds. So what happened to all the indigenous dogs that had been in America for so long? A pair of jawbones recently found beneath Virginia’s colonial Jamestown settlement suggests that the starving colonists might have eaten them.
The first dogs in the Americas were thought to be decedents of the wolf that gradually became domesticated. However, these original canines were gradually replaced by European breeds of dogs. Today, Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies are thought to be the only breeds that retain a genetic connection to their ancient ancestors.
