A genetic and behavioural study has uncovered a mutation that helps explain why dogs are such social animals.
According to Miho Nagsawa and his colleagues at the Azabu University (Japan), dogs are social because of two mutations in a gene called melanocortin 2. The researchers arrived at this conclusion after analysing over 640 dogs’ genetic variations.
Melanocortin 2 receptor gene is responsible for stress. According to Nagasawa, the mutations in the stress-response gene might have reduced fear and aggression in dogs. This gave them more confidence to approach humans.
The researchers focused on four genes for their study. These are oxytocin (OT), oxytocin receptor (OTR), melanocortin 2 receptor (MC2R) and WBSCR17. The researchers chose these four genes as they are all involved in a dog’s stress response.
Dogs are social because of two mutations in a stress-response gene.
Finding Out Why Dogs Are So Social
After examining the dogs’ genes, the researchers presented the dogs with two different tasks. The tasks aimed to test how the dogs interacted with humans.
In the first task, the dogs were first trained to find food hidden under one of two bowls. The task required the dogs to determine which bowl is covering up the food by simply looking at the researcher’s cues.
For the second task, the researchers wanted to see how the dogs would react when they encountered a problem. The researchers trained the dogs to open a bin in order to retrieve the food inside. An identical bin was then presented to the dogs, but this one couldn’t be opened. The researchers recorded the dog’s behaviour for two minutes. They measured how often, and how long, the dog spent looking at the researchers.
The first task found that dogs with a specific mutation in the melanocortin 2 gene were much better at recognising the researcher’s cues to choose the right bowl. The second task found that dogs with a different mutation in the same gene stared at the researcher for longer.
The researchers wanted to analyse animals that coexist with humans in order to help humans coexist with other, non-domesticated animals.
From the study, Nagasawa theorised that a dog’s social cognitive abilities were altered as a by-product of the mutations of the stress response.
Studying the biological building blocks of dogs can help us better coexist with other, non-domesticated animals.
The outcomes found in this study are important to help us better understand the biological building blocks of the close interspecies bond between dogs and humans.
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