Abstract
Dogs were once wild wolves who came closer to humans to take advantage of the benefits of living in a community. This natural selection led to the creation of domestic dogs over 15 000 years ago. Over the millennia, humans have selected those dogs with the traits best suited to the tasks they wished to entrust to them. Artificial selection has resulted in extreme diversity today, with over 300 breeds of dog, each with its own physical and behavioral characteristics. Thanks to the decoding of the genomes of ancient dogs and modern breeds, we'll see that the origins of the dog and the major stages in the development of our best friend are increasingly well understood.
