Time：2023-03-27 13:15:35 source：ucutxmastrees.com author：Large size Read：477次

How did the ordinary dog ​​that entered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 24,000 years ago become the divine dog Tibetan Mastiff step by step?

The Tibetan Mastiff is called the "Snow Dog" by the herdsmen on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and occupies a very important position in the herdsmen's history and culture. In the past, modern grazing technology was not yet developed. There were many beasts on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and they were eyeing cattle and sheep, and raising a few Tibetan mastiffs was the most simple and commonly used method to prevent wolves. The Tibetan Mastiff is also very good in this regard. It is a very ferocious dog and has the saying that "one mastiff fights three wolves". Earlier, Tibetan mastiffs were only popular in small circles such as herdsmen, but after the 1980s, they took the lead in becoming popular abroad. Because of their fierce characters and lion-like appearance, they were sought after by many foreigners. Tibetan mastiffs are also known as "" Oriental dog". After the 1990s, the craze for Tibetan mastiffs spread back to China, and some businessmen sensed the business opportunities and hyped the Tibetan mastiffs and cultivated them, which made this ancient plateau dog breed well-known to the public. Due to the exaggerated propaganda of Tibetan mastiffs and some deformed aesthetics in this process, many mastiff farms have cultivated some "Tibetan mastiffs" with abnormally strong hair and bloated body shape. The reputation has also plummeted. From the beginning of the pursuit to the later abuse, but the reason for these is not the Tibetan Mastiff itself. In all fairness, the Tibetan Mastiff is an excellent plateau dog breed, and some of its characteristics make them unsuitable to live in low-altitude areas as pets.

“Tudou” followed the early immigrants to live on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Regarding the origin of the Tibetan Mastiff, in some stories, legends and literary novels, There is a saying that "ten dogs give one mastiff", which roughly means that a litter of newly born puppies are locked up and then given no food. In the end, under the pressure of hunger, these puppies will fight and bite each other, and finally only one of the strongest and most ferocious puppy is left, which is the Tibetan Mastiff. Regarding this statement, we can listen to it as a story, because the real Tibetan Mastiff, like the Chow Chow, Shar-Pei, Crested Dog, etc., is an ancient independent dog breed. The Tibetan Mastiff is a fierce and powerful dog. do you know? Originally, there were no Tibetan mastiffs on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but people brought them in later. About 24,000 years ago, an early group of humans entered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to live, and they brought some low-altitude "earth dogs" with them. Later, in the long plateau life, these local dogs continued to evolve and breed, adapted to the plateau life, and finally formed the Tibetan mastiff we see now. Some people also questioned that the time point when dogs were domesticated by people was about 16,000 years ago, and there were dogs 24,000 years ago? In fact, people's domestication history of dogs has not been fully studied, and many mysteries have not been solved. The views put forward are hypotheses, and it is too early to draw conclusions.

Mating with ancient Tibetan wolves to obtain high altitude adaptability

The low-altitude dog breeds that enter the plateau area and live in highland areas are not fully adapted at first. I believe many people have a deep understanding. Many friends who have traveled to Tibet will suffer from altitude sickness and cannot exercise vigorously. The same was true of these early dogs, until later, as the number of dogs increased, some began to mate with local ancient Tibetan wolves, so that the offspring dogs acquired an important gene, and it was under the action of this gene that they acquired adaptability to high altitudes. This gene is called the "EPAS1" gene. Scientists have detected it in a variety of high-altitude creatures, including snow leopards and Tibetan wolves, but not in low-altitude animals such as domestic dogs, gray wolves, and golden-backed jackals. arrive. The study found that the "EPAS1" gene can affect the regulation mechanism of hemoglobin production in animals, making the body more sensitive to changes in oxygen, allowing them to survive for a long time in an oxygen-deficient environment, and maintain a strong activity ability. After mating with Tibetan wolves, the offspring dogs acquired this gene and have since established a firm foothold on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Scientists constructed a phylogenetic tree of canids and found that dogs and wolves separated a long time ago, and each evolved in different directions, but after the ancestors of Tibetan mastiffs entered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, they re-crossed with wolves and obtained Some genetic material in wolves.

Long evolution and breeding, the Tibetan Mastiff was finally "entitled God"

Due to the severe cold climate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in order to keep warm, these offspring dogs lived in the long plateau in order to keep warm. Gradually there are some adaptive changes, such as the hair becomes stronger, the fat layer thickens and so on. Of course, the evolution process of dogs is basically the process of human selection and breeding. After generations of selection and breeding, people have finally left what they need. As mentioned earlier, the most important role of the Tibetan Mastiff in ancient times was to guard against wolves, so those small and docile dog breeds naturally could not take on this important task, which meant that they would not be bred. In contrast, the large Tibetan Mastiff, which is huge in size, ferocious in character and has a deterrent power, is the favorite dog of herdsmen. Tibetan Mastiffs are indeed outstanding in this regard. They are brave and loyal, dare to fight with wolves, bears, lynx, etc., and defend the property of herdsmen. In 2016, some scholars in Beijing photographed stray Tibetan mastiffs chasing snow leopards on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, competing with snow leopards for food, and besieging brown bears. Maybe the Tibetan Mastiff is not the opponent of the snow leopard and the Tibetan brown bear, but the dogs are naturally gregarious, and they have always been herds. Judging from the pictures taken by Beijing scholars, three or four Tibetan mastiffs can chase the snow leopard away, and five Tibetan mastiffs can surround the brown bear. Although the Tibetan Mastiff may be mentioned with a disdainful expression at the moment, whether you admit it or not, as a shepherd dog on the plateau, the Tibetan Mastiff's performance is good enough. Because it can not only adapt to the climatic environment here, but also is unmatched by other dog breeds in dealing with wild animals. But now there is a problem, that is, since the Tibetan mastiff bubble burst, a large number of Tibetan mastiffs have been abandoned, and they have become a tyrant on the plateau. As the wildness gradually recovered, stray Tibetan mastiffs attacked donkey friends, preyed on blue sheep, and chased snow leopards, which became a hidden danger on the plateau. Follow me and make a friend who understands animals.

(责任编辑：Poultry)

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