Our ancestors may have kept foxes as pets long before domestic dogs came on the scene - eviltoast
Was an extinct fox once man's best friend?
www.bbc.com
Our ancestors may have kept foxes as pets long before domestic dogs, archaeological evidence suggests.

Archaeological evidence suggests ancient human societies in South America revered foxes to such an extent that they were buried next to them.

Scientists were surprised to find a fox buried in a human grave dating back 1,500 years in Patagonia, Argentina.

They think the most likely explanation is that the fox was a highly valued companion or pet.

DNA analysis shows the animal dined with prehistoric hunter gatherers and was part of the inner circle of the camp.

  • SineIraEtStudio@midwest.social
    7·
    7 months ago

    After the arrival of Europeans, native American dogs almost completely disappeared, leaving a minimal genetic legacy in modern dog populations.

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7116273/

    I did not do a very deep dive but it looks like there were “domesticated” dogs in the Americans prior to Europeans, but they were almost completely replaced by their European counterparts. This leads me to believe the European versions were far superior for the intended usage. If the American version was indeed significantly inferior for their intended purposes, they may have been at or below the effectiveness/usefulness levels of semi-domesticated animals, like foxes.

    Edit: The_Sasswagon brings up a good point about the effects of potential European diseases on American dogs.