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Dogs may have domesticated themselves because they liked snacks, model suggests

Competing theories explain how dogs came to be domesticated from wolves. Now, a new study adds further support to the idea that they domesticated themselves.

According to one hypothesis, wolves underwent "self-domestication": after prehistoric animals started coming to human settlements to scavenge for food scraps, they grew more accustomed to living near people. These more-tolerant wolves preferred a steady food supply over inconsistent sources in the wild, and their descendants gave rise to the first domestic dogs. In the new study, researchers addressed this question of time constraint by using a statistical model that considered potential timelines of dog domestication and gave its computerized canines some agency over choosing their lifestyle and mates.

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