Dogs domesticated over 27,000 years ago: study

Man's best friend may have been his companion for far longer than believed, scientists reported, publishing an analysis that dates domesticated dogs to over 27,000 years ago.

Humans possibly domesticated dogs 27,000 to 40,000 years ago, according to Swedish researchers whose work was published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

The scientists based their analysis on an ancient Siberian jaw fragment. Previous estimates said modern dogs diverged from their wolf ancestors 16,000 years ago after the last ice age.

The "Taimyr" wolf bone in the study, dated to 35,000 years ago, shows that the animal was the most recent ancestor of wolves and modern dogs.