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- MRI's of different dog breeds have shown differences in their brain structure that can be attributed to recent selection.
A new study (original article behind paywall, in short Science mag news article) has shown differences in dog brain anatomy.
Among the behaviors examined were:
- Different brain regions have been shown to be relatively larger or smaller, in different breeds.
- The behavioral differences that breeds were bred for correlated with the brain region differences and their presumed involvement in generating behavior.
- In a phylogeny of dog breeds (how they are appear to be related) shows most changes appeared at the more recent branches of the phylogeny:
Importantly, a phylogenetic analysis revealed that most change has occurred in the terminal branches of the dog phylogenetic tree, indicating strong, recent selection in individual breeds.
Among the behaviors examined were:
- sport fighting: changes in areas involved fear, stress, and anxiety responses
- sight hunting
- hunt by scent
- guarding
- companionship