By James Donahue

A team of scientists studying the genome of the dog has discovered its origin dates back at least 100,000 years and is linked to the grey wolf in Asia.

The team from the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, recently published its findings in the British journal Nature

“Dogs evolved through a mutually beneficial relationship with humans, sharing living space and food sources,” the study suggests. Dogs are believed to be the first animals domesticated by humans. Over thousands of years, the group said, genetic pressure by Homo sapiens caused the emergence of dog breeds which specialized in herding, hunting and obedience, as well as dogs prized for certain looks.

The study found that dogs have 39 pairs of chromosomes. By comparison, humans have 23.

There are an estimated 400 different modern canine breeds of dogs in the world today.

The research sounds simple at first blush, but when you think about it, the findings generate a mystery. For starters, there are many other variations of the canine in the world, including coyotes, hyenas, jackals and various types of wolves. Yet all dog breeds are traced back to a single wolf, somewhere in Asia. And the branching off from wild wolf to the domesticated “man’s best friend” occurred back when humans were believed to still be living in caves.

Or were they?

If we were to believe the Bible story of creation, humans have only been living on this planet for about 8,000 years. That, of course, is ridiculous. We find the fossilized remains of humanoids that walked this planet at the same time as the dinosaurs an estimated 200 million years ago.

There are some who believe in the possibility of alien intervention, that the story in Genesis that speaks of the “sons of God” coming down to earth and mating with women to have “mighty men which were of old, men of renown,” is a reference to DNA manipulation that accelerated the development of modern humans.

Geological and archaeological findings suggest that some kind of event that introduced humans occurred near the end of the Cretaceous Period. That puts intelligent humans on the planet as early as 65 million years ago, or even earlier.

The phrasing “mighty men which were of old,” and that they were “men of renown” implies that these children possessed ancient knowledge and were highly acclaimed among the people. They came into a world of illiterate and un-evolved humanoids and were suddenly born different. They were superior to their parents. It was a major evolutionary step that thrust humanity into being more than an animal.

Taking the idea one step farther, let’s suppose the alien manipulation involved more than just the introduction of humans. Could these benevolent beings also have given us animals for food and pleasure? Suppose the humble dairy cow was a give from the gods, and the horse?

Also we suggest that certain plants were placed here to assist in our evolutionary growth. The psilocybin and peyote mushroom, marijuana, and certain grasses were provided to assist in our spiritual growth.

Thus it is very possible that the wolf also was altered to give us a domestic animal as a companion. Some people see the domestic cat is such a strange animal they say it does not originate on Earth at all. Both animals are common in most homes all over the planet. Their existence dates back as early in history as we do.

This added gift from our progenitor would explain the mystery of how early man managed to capture and domesticate a wild wolf. We know from nature that such an event is just about impossible.

Wolves, by their very nature, will cull out any offspring that deviates from the norm. Thus a pup that fails to display the wild cunning of its parents is destroyed. There would be little chance for an accidental genetic mutation.