For at least 3,500 years, dingoes have been Australia’s top terrestrial predator. And in current times, they are one of the continent’s most iconic, but controversial animals. They hold significant cultural value, including a long connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Dingoes also play a crucial ecological role, helping to regulate the population of native animals, such as kangaroos, and feral animals, such as rabbits and cats.
However, while they are protected in some national parks, in many areas they are persecuted and commonly killed.
Since the British invasion, potential interbreeding with introduced modern dog breeds has limited our ability to trace the dingo’s origins, arrival, and history.
Our team used ancient DNA sourced from dingo bones predating the European invasion of Australia’s east and west coasts to help answer all of these questions. Our study is now published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Turning back the clock
To circumvent the ambiguity introduced by any potential interbreeding between dingoes and modern dog breeds, our team collected 42 ancient dingo skeletal remains from all around Australia. Our collection included dingoes ranging in age from 400 to 2,746 years.
We successfully extracted ancient DNA from these skeletal remains, effectively rolling back the clock to take a rare glimpse into the genetic makeup of dingoes in the past, free from any modern dog interbreeding.
By examining these ancient genomes, we can trace the lineage of dingoes back thousands of years and understand how their populations have changed over time.
Two groups of dingoes
Modern dingoes are classified today into two major geographical groups, East and West.
How did this grouping arise? One theory is that the groups were separated by the dingo fence built in the late 19th to mid-20th century. It divides the southeast of the continent from the rest.
However, our study of ancient genomes shows that genetic differences between the East and West groups emerged well before the European invasion.
This suggests dingoes adapted to their environments and formed separate populations in different regions of Australia thousands of years ago, highlighting their resilience and adaptability in various Australian landscapes.
An unlikely link with New Guinea
To our surprise, we uncovered an unlikely genetic connection between ancient dingoes from coastal New South Wales and the endangered New Guinea singing dogs.
New Guinea singing dogs are wild roaming dogs, currently only found in small numbers in New Guinea’s highlands. They are known for their melodious howls. They are the closest known relative of dingoes and look similar to them.
Our study suggests at least one wave of migration between New Guinea singing dogs and dingoes roughly 2,500 years ago, at least a thousand years after dingoes arrived in Australia.
Given the length of the sea crossing from New Guinea to Australia, dingoes must have moved with human populations as companion animals, likely during trade.
This genetic link with New Guinea singing dogs confirms evidence for regional movement of humans provided by recent finds of pottery of similar age from far north Queensland.
Little mixing with modern dogs
Contrary to previous concerns, our tests showed modern dingoes have retained much of their ancient genetic makeup, with little genomic ancestry from post-colonial interbreeding with domestic dog breeds.
This finding highlights the importance of populations protected in national parks, such as the iconic “Wongari” population of K’gari (briefly named Fraser Island in post-colonial times), which was represented by three individuals in our study. The ongoing culling of dingoes in much of Australia makes this protection even more important.
Our research provides a clearer understanding of the genetic heritage and population history of dingoes, supporting efforts to preserve their ecological role and cultural significancein Australia.
Our study confirms that modern dingoes remain genetically distinct and preserve their ancient heritage. They are crucial for the conservation and management of dingo populations.
Correction: this article has been amended to indicate that pottery evidence only came from Queensland, not New South Wales.
Yassine Souilmi, Group Leader, Genomics and Bioinformatics, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide; Gabriel Conroy, Environmental Management Program Coordinator, University of the Sunshine Coast; Jane Balme, Professor Emerita of Archaeology, The University of Western Australia, and Sally Wasef, Senior research fellow, Queensland University of Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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