During their research, a team of scientists led by Tatiana Feirborn, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institutes of Health, collected DNA samples from both modern and ancient dogs whose remains were found at archaeological sites across Greenland. Analyzing these samples allowed researchers to explore the long history of the relationship between humans and dogs.
Sled dogs have played a vital role for people living in the Arctic for the past 9,500 years. Their widespread presence in the polar region underscores their significance to local communities.
Today, there are many breeds of sled dogs. However, the Greenlandic sled dog is likely the oldest breed among them, and possibly the most ancient of all dog breeds worldwide.
In less than 20 years, the population of these dogs has nearly halved
The Greenlandic sled dog, known as “qimmeq” (singular) and “qimmit” (plural) in Greenlandic, has served the Inuit—North America’s indigenous people—for about 1,000 years. These dogs remain active and hardworking, but their numbers are rapidly declining. This decline is primarily due to melting snow caused by climate change, as well as an increasing reliance on snowmobiles.
As a result of these and other factors, the total population of Greenlandic sled dogs has decreased from around 25,000 in 2002 to 13,000 in 2020. This alarming drop has raised concerns among scientists about the breed’s future and highlighted the urgent need to document its genetic diversity for conservation efforts.
What secrets did the DNA analysis reveal?
Feirborn’s team sequenced the genomes of 92 dogs, covering approximately 800 years of history. They then compared these samples with data from over 1,900 published dog genomes, as reported by IFLScience.
The researchers discovered that these dogs form a distinct group separate from other ancient Arctic dogs, particularly the Alaskan dog, which is 3,700 years old. This remarkable finding not only demonstrates the genetic continuity of dogs but also supports the theory of a rapid migration of the Inuit from northern Canada to Greenland. Moreover, the data suggests that this migration occurred about 200 years earlier than previously believed, around the 12th century, confirming the idea that the Inuit arrived in Greenland before the Norse explorers.
The Norse settlement in Greenland lasted until the 15th century, after which the island’s indigenous inhabitants distanced themselves from Europeans. However, Danish-Norwegian colonists established a trading post in the early 18th century in the Kitaa district of western Greenland, leading to a new wave of interaction between Europeans and the Inuit. Yet, as the new study shows, genetic mixing between the qimmit and European dogs was minimal. Instead, these dogs were divided into four genetic groups that correspond to the geographical distribution of people across the island.
“The results of this work lay the groundwork for future studies using temporal series of genomes from regional populations to investigate local animal evolution influenced by humans and the environment,” the scientists noted in their report. The findings of the study were published in the journal Science.