Reading the Genes of Dogs: teacher key

Dogs, grade 10 edition, written for 10th grade. Genes, wolf ancestors and tested puppies point to how dogs began, but not to one answer. Follow the evidence, the argument over it and the health price of some breeds.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did the 2013 study find about the wolves it compared?
   • One was the clear ancestor
   • All were equally related to dogs (answer)
   • None were related
2. What did the later, larger study find about AMY2B?
   • Dogs have no copies
   • Foxes have the most
   • Some wolves also carry extra copies (answer)
3. Why might the oxytocin gaze loop not prove domestication caused it?
   • The same loop might form between puppies and any caregiver (answer)
   • Wolves do not have eyes
   • Dogs cannot gaze
4. What did the Duke wolf puppies get from birth that rules out a simple explanation?
   • No food at all
   • A lot of exercise
   • Near-constant human contact (answer)
5. What do dogs do when they feel positive emotions, according to the research team?
   • Wag to the left
   • Wag to the right (answer)
   • Stop moving
6. What does a veterinary professor argue breeders and vets should do?
   • Grade the fitness of dogs before breeding (answer)
   • Breed more flat-faced dogs
   • Stop all dog breeding

Words

• genomes: full gene sets
• oxytocin: bonding chemical
• dingoes: wild Australian dogs
• generations: family steps
• selective: chosen on purpose