Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History

Our "best friend" has been with us for about 30,000 years and holds the title of being one of the first domesticated animal. If you go back even further in time to about 100,000 BP you might find the first lineage of the dog as it split off from the gray wolf. Of course, if you want the dog's (carnivore's) earliest ancestor you'd have to go back 65m or more YBP. This, then, is the subject of Xiaoming Wang's incredible book. Wang is a noted paleontologist and geologist who just happens to be gifted writer. There's a lot of information packed into this book (e-book), some of that information is quite technical, but all of it, technical or not, is very readable. The evolution of the dog is a fascinating story paralleling that of the cat and hyena and probably a few other carnivores as well. The author makes it all clear and covers, not only the dog, but a host of other creatures that shared this primeval world with the dog. You can't really study an animal with out learning about it's environment as well. To this end Wang fills you in on the geological and climatic changes that have occurred over the eons. You will also get glimpse of the dog's hunting technics and social activities, using fossils and modern Canids as models. Migratory patterns, again using fossil locations, tell us how these versatile carnivores spread over the globe and changed to fit each new environment. This, at last, brings us back to the modern dog who has shared our camp fire for lo these many years. A few words about the art work: Mauricio Anton's many line drawings and superb color plates round out this wonderful book and bring life to the extinct animals mentioned throughout the narrative. The color plates come across as black & white in my Kindle but spring into glorious full color HD life on my iPad. Look for the plates at the very end of the book, after the index. I had no technical problems with this Kindle edition.Last Ranger

I finally got around to this book after retirement. My interest in fossil canids began with a field trip some years ago with the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, to Red Rock Canyon in the Mojave Desert of California. I was excited about the possibility of finding bones of Epicyon, the biggest of the bone-crushing Borophagines, and got to meet the senior author of this book, Dr. Xiaoming Wang. As a non-paleontologist with some familiarity with the topic, I thought this book was semi-technical, with a readership target of those with more than a passing interest in paleontology. I found myself stopping to look up terms, not only in the glossary, but in references on anatomy (both books and on line). In other words, it was not an "easy read" for me, but well worth the effort. One tangible benefit of reading this book: while visiting a museum I suddenly realized that some mounted fossil skeletons that I had passed by quickly before could be "read" to indicate how the living animal walked, ran, and caught prey, and whether it most likely lived in forests or open plains. Although the focus of the book is dogs, the reader is given a solid introduction to what we know (and how) about evolutionary origins and relationships, anatomy and function, adaptation to changing environments and prey, and how dogs became our friends and companions. I highly recommend this book!

Not a bad book but the author seems very blasé about the facts & is a bit superior acting. In my opinion, only. I did enjoy the book, I just ignored the attitude. Lol.

"Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History" answers so many questions that have been floating in my mind over the years. For example, are hyenas related more to cats than dogs, as has been reported by other authors? Well, not exactly. They once were, fifty million years ago or so. But thanks to a process called convergent evolution, they've adapted the canine method of hunting in packs. And so, today, hyenas have become very much like dogs.The most interesting part of the book deals with the difference between dogs and cats. It turns out that everything revolves around the cat's retractable claws. How this simple mechanism caused cats to evolve into a (usually) solitary animal, as opposed to the canine whose pack structure so closely matches that of we humans, I leave to the reader to find out.Some minutia on the ancient members of the canidae family from which our dogs have evolved may slow you down. These paragraphs can easily be skipped. With its bounty of illustrations, ample index, and bibliography, the book contains meat for even every reader.

A magnificent look at the ancient origins of the dog family. Filled with illustrations by acclaimed paleoartist Mauricio Anton and superbly written by Xiaoming Wang, this is the foremost guide to the creatures that gave rise to man's best friend. From the ancient dawn dog Hesperocyon, to the biggest dog of all, the terrifying bone-crusher Epicyon, the biggest dog that ever lived, to the dire wolf of Game of Thrones fame and our modern wolves, jackals and beyond, this book highlights and represents all our major wild canines and shows us the true face of this most iconic group of predators. As such, I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it to any dog lover, paleontology student or lover of prehistory.

If you're fascinated by wolves/dogs, this would be a very interesting book. It isn't overly technical, however, it isn't a novel either. Reading about the evolution of these mysterious (and sometimes hidden animals) is enlightening.

This very readable work is packed with information about dogs and their origins. It's laid out in such a way as to make it easy to find what the reader is looking for. The evolutionary evidence with regard to dogs is so vast we can almsot see them evolving before our eyes as we read through the book. The work contains a chapter on domesticated dogs. All the evidence points to the fact that domestic dogs are a tame version of the grey wolf, Canis lupus. Domestic dogs and wolves are actually the same species able to breed with each other. At most they are sub-species: the wolf Canis lupus lupus and the dog Canis lupus familiaris. This makes one quite sad to see how some breeds of dog have been so distorted by selective breeding, especially those with bandy legs and pug noses. Sadly, some dogs have been bred to make them fierce and dangerous unexpectedly, which is not like wolves who are interested only in killing to eat or in being fierce only when they are protecting their cubs. The best dogs are those which are most like wolves. Jack Russells are like mini-wolves, expert at killing their prey, which is mainly rats.The dog family has the best fathers in the Animal Kingdom, even better than humans. Male canines, unlike most cat species, have an important part to play in the rearing of cubs. Humans can be very cruel to dogs like when they breed them into bulldogs which have distorted jaws, cannot breath properly and have to have caesarians to deliver their pups. There are also many other breeds that suffer from selective breeding defects. This is what happens when humans interfere with evolution. Sheep dogs are very wolf-like because herding sheep is very like what wolves do when they are selecting game for the kill. The reason the sheep dogs don't kill the sheep is because they know the humans will give them their food. Dogs dentition is so arranged that they are able to eat vegetarian food as well as meat. Cats do not have this ability.When you read this book you realise what truly wonderful animals dogs are. I won't go on. Let me just say that you need to buy and read this book, which will help you to realise what wonderful animals dogs truly are with their proud evolutionary history, devoted family life and devotion to humans despite how humans can so often mistreat them, not least in the way that they develop breeds of dog in which the dogs suffer because of distorted, unwolflike charcteristics bred into them through artificial selection. Dogs are tame grey wolves. The best way we can reward dogs for their service to us is to allow their wolf brothers and sisters room to roam. Wolves/dogs were on this planet long before humans. It would be a sad old world in which there was no wilderness left where the wolves can roam. Dogs are wolves and wolves are dogs. Let us never forget that. This is a brilliant book and I thoroughly recommend it.

I had mixed feelings buying the book. I love dogs and admire their wild relatives, sure, but they somehow did not seem that interesting, at least compared to the other big carnivore family, the cats.Well I was wrong. Prehistoric dogs, wolves, foxes and other canids without modern descendants are every bit as exciting as the most spectacular felids. And that point was clearly driven through, compliments of the authors and Mr. Anton's illustrations.The book has a very good structure, beginning with the origins of the various canid groups, presenting a handful of key species for every branch of the family tree. Then comes the anatomy section, usually difficult for amateurs. Not this time. Every part of the dog body is clearly presented (Mr. Anton again) and analyzed, with the technical vocabulary kept to the barest minimum and all key scientific terms explained. And finally, we come to the really juicy stuff: Hypotheses about primitive canids ecology and general behavior, based on observations of their various modern descendants and data form other scientific disciplines. The authors trace the family's evolutionary fortunes through space (dispersal all over the world) and time (changing environments with new challenges) and conclude with a very interesting analysis on dogs' domestication and common life with man.The text manages to balance wealth of content with brevity and charm. The latest receives a more than generous boost from Mr. Anton's simply gorgeous work. The black and white sketches are very good, particularly the anatomical ones, but the artist's talent really shines at the color plates - alas only eight of them.The book is a very good option for anyone interested in prehistoric mammals and / or dogs in particular. And if one is prepared to go further, the appendices and bibliography are there to help.

There have always been dogs in my family, and always a lot. I have always thought I knew these animals, and their wilder cousins. This book opened my eyes to the rich long history of canids which I had barely ever thought about.Taking us across the whiole of canid evolution from primitive Miacid mammals to modern day canines. We see how the canids, who had spent the majority of their evolutionary history confined within north america, spread out to conquer almost the entire globe.There are beautiful illustrations of every subfamily of canids, and the genuses and species within them aswell as prehistoric canid-like mammals such as hyaenodons, amphicyons ("bear dogs") and thylacines (tazzy tigers).If you have ever owned a dog, or just have an interst in nature or paleontology then this book is a must. An offical and scientific book, it still remains very accessible, while pleasingly detailed.

Full of detail and explanation of the origins and relationships between various canids, past and present. And Mauricio Anton's illustrations are always works of art as well as works of science.

The 21st Century's Greatest Paleo-Artist bar none