empty thoughts VI

6. Hare and Tomasello (1998) speak to the differences between the way wolves and dogs respond to human gaze cues. Previous studies suggest that the ability of dogs to respond to the gaze of humans is a derivative of their ancestral skill of reading behavior of fellow hunters. Contrarily, wolves, even when reared by humans don’t exhibit such skill. The domesticated dog line has been evolving for thousands of years. It is, of yet, not conclusive as to when dog domestication began. Mitochondrial DNA says the wolf and dog lines split around 100,000 years ago. It is my perspective on this issue that for the wolf and dog genetic lines to split, there had to have been a large era of domestication that occurred first. Historical perspective entices me to infer that dogs are more evolutionarily equipped to respond to a human gaze cue than a wolf, who is more equipped to respond to peer gaze cues or hunting posture. I suppose my reaction, then, to H & T’s reference is that I don’t feel that it portrays anything novel to contribute to their article. Of course wolves don’t respond as well as dogs to the gaze cues of humans; being reared by humans does not replace thousands of years of species domestication and divergence. During their process of domestication, the skill of recognizing peer behavioral cues must have evolved to respond more directly to human (master) cues. I'm bored with their thoughts...