Ancient dog faeces show how our canine friends became omnivores

Gut microbes helped ancient dogs eat starch-rich food when farming led to a change in diet for people and their animals, an analysis of 3500-year-old dog faeces reveals

Ancient dog faeces show how our canine friends became omnivores
Humans 13 August 2021

By James Urquhart

Dog eating food

Dog nutrient often contains grains – and whitethorn person done truthful for thousands of years

Jaromir Chalabala / Alamy Stock Photo

Dog diets often incorporate much starch than those of their carnivorous wolf ancestors, and an investigation of fossilised canine faeces helps explicate however the animals made the dietary change. Long earlier their genomes adapted to their plant-rich chow, their gut microbiome gained a starch-digesting profile.

Due to their adjacent relation with humans, it is thought that dogs’ diets shifted to little nutrient and much carbohydrates erstwhile farming began – an thought that was supported by an archaeological investigation …

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