Herding dogs: Genetic study reveals why they are smart, social and focused
They conducted whole-genome sequencing of 12 herding breeds and 91 non-herding breeds to find these differences.
They found that herding dogs have positive selection for educational attainment (which they equated with human-assisted problem-solving for dogs) and intelligence.
Focusing further on border collies, they identified changes in eight genes related to memory, learning, social interaction, and spatial awareness.
One gene, EPHB1, which is important for spatial memory, had many variations in herding dogs.
In border collies, EPHB1 gave the breed a distinct haplotype associated with chase-bite motor patterns necessary in the dogs' specific line of work.
Professor Matt Littlejohn is a Professor in Animal Genetics at Massey University.
He said the research gave a glimpse into the reasons behind working dogs' skills.
'High-performance farm dogs show exceptional abilities that set them apart from the average pooch, and this study gives some insight into genetic factors that may contribute to that,' he said.
Littlejohn said the study was significant because identifying genes underlying behavioural traits has been 'notoriously difficult' – both in dog and human genetics.
However, he said the results would need to be validated.
'Breakthroughs in behavioural genetics have been hard-won because the traits are complex, so while the study highlights one gene in particular with a likely role in working behaviour, the next step will be to test the gene in bigger populations and confirm that role.'
More about the study
The research paper, Genomic evidence for behavioural adaptation of herding dogs, was published in Science Advances.
The herding dog group consisted of seven Belgian sheepdogs, five Belgian Malinois, 11 Belgian Tervurens, five Bouvier des Flandres, 15 border collies, seven bearded collies, five Pembroke Welsh corgis, five Shetland sheepdogs, six Berger Picards, five Australian cattle dogs, 15 German shepherd dogs, and five Australian shepherds.
Researchers looked for genes tied to phenotypic traits defined in a comprehensive database of human genome-wide association studies called the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog.
The research was conducted by Hankyeol Jeong and Jaemin Kim, of Gyeongsang National University, Republic of Korea, and Elaine A. Ostrander, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, of the National Institiutes of Health, Bethesda, US.
It was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- NZ Herald
Antarctic leopard seals perform unique songs for hours, study finds
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Male leopard seals sing songs structured like nursery rhymes. Photo / Jamie Quirk When male leopard seals dive down into icy Antarctic waters, they sing songs structured like nursery rhymes in performances that can last up to 13 hours, scientists say. An Australian-led team of researchers compared the complexity of the songs composed by the aquatic mammals to those of other animals – as well as human musicians like the Beatles and Mozart. Lucinda Chambers, a bioacoustics PhD student at Australia's University of New South Wales, told AFP that people are often surprised when they hear the 'otherworldly' hoots and trills sung by leopard seals. 'It kind of sounds like sound effects from an 80s sci-fi movie,' said the lead author of a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. During the spring breeding season, male leopard seals dive underwater and perform their songs for two minutes before returning to the surface for air. They then repeat this performance for up to 13 hours a day, according to the study.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Scoop
NZ's Early Morning Tsunami Alerts
Many New Zealanders awoke at 6:30 am to a tsunami alert blaring from their phones, after yesterday's magnitude 8.8 earthquake near Russia – one of the strongest ever recorded. The alert warns people to stay away from the coasts, which may experience "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges" until at least midday today. A glitch also resulted in some people receiving the alert multiple times, or not at all. Dr Sally Potter, social scientist and warnings consultant, Director of Canary Innovation Ltd., comments: "Many people around New Zealand received two Emergency Mobile Alerts over the past 24 hours. While these can be disruptive if you're tucked up safely at home, they may well have saved lives too. Perhaps they made people rethink going out early this morning to fish or surf, or for a walk on the beach. It's important for emergency managers to ensure they are doing everything they can to inform people about life-threatening risks such as tsunami. "Following the 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano in Tonga, tsunami surges reached our shores. Similar to today's event, there was a beach and marine threat, and the surges caused damage to boats in harbours, particularly in Northland. A campsite was also flooded in Canterbury. So, we need to make sure we take all alerts such as this seriously, particularly due to the uncertainties involved in the locations affected, timing and how big the event is going to be." No conflicts of interest. Dr Lauren Vinnell, Senior Lecturer of Emergency Management, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, comments: "The Emergency Mobile Alert system is a valuable resource for communicating information about imminent hazards to the public. It's a tough balance between not alerting too much that people become tired of them and pay less attention in future, but not alerting too little so that people feel they haven't been adequately warned. Tsunami do pose a real risk to life, so the use of the system today and yesterday seems appropriate. One way to avoid complacency when people do receive alerts but don't experience danger personally is to encourage them to view these alerts as practice, so that they will be better prepared to respond next time. "It is also vital to remember that while we have this alerting system, it won't always be possible to get warnings to people in time. It's important that efforts to teach natural warning signs, like a long or strong earthquake for tsunami, continue. This will mean that people are better equipped to respond to alerts if they do get them, but also will be more prepared to act to keep themselves safe in the instances where official warnings are not possible." No conflicts of interest.
1News
5 days ago
- 1News
History made as Australia launches rocket — then crashes
An Australian-made rocket has made history by launching from home soil for the first time — before crashing seconds later. Gilmour Space Technologies has hailed their rocket's 14 second flight in far north Queensland a success, calling it a "major step forward". The 23m, 35 tonne orbital rocket named Eris, took off from a spaceport at Bowen on Wednesday morning. It left the launch pad into the air shortly after 8.30am with plumes of smoke erupting from underneath the rocket before hovering in the air briefly and crashing into the ground nearby. ADVERTISEMENT The Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space Technologies confirmed Eris became the first rocket to lift off from Australian soil, achieving 14 seconds of flight. "For a maiden test flight, especially after an extended 18-month wait on the pad for final approvals, this is a strong result and a major step forward for Australia's sovereign space capability," it said on Facebook. "Most importantly, the team is safe and energised for Test Flight 2. "Only six nations launch to orbit regularly — and just a handful are working to join them. Today brings Australia closer to that club." New Zealand joined the list of nations with orbital launch capability in January, 2018. Gilmour Space Technologies confirmed the ignition of all four rocket engines with 23 seconds of engine burn time. It said the rocket cleared the tower after lift-off from the spaceport, before crashing. Early indications also suggested the launch site infrastructure remained intact. ADVERTISEMENT The company previously said it would deem the launch a success if the rocket left the ground. "It's almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time," chief executive Adam Gilmour said in February. "Whether we make it off the pad, reach max Q, or get all the way to space, what's important is that every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket's reliability and performance for future launches." The launch has previously been delayed on multiple occasions this year due to weather conditions and technical issues. It was set to take off on Tuesday afternoon and was 10 minutes out from launching, but was forced to halt proceedings due to the high winds that were "above the safety commit limits set by regulators". Gilmour Space Technologies was recently awarded a $5 million (NZ$5.4 million) grant from the federal government to assist with the launch after receiving $52 million (NZ$56.7 million) in Commonwealth funding to lead a space manufacturing network in Australia.
