Questioning the evidence for a Central Asian domestication origin of dogs

A recent study by Shannon et al. (1) proposes a Central Asian domestication origin of dogs, based upon the finding that Central Asia had the lowest short-range linkage disequilibrium (LD) among village dogs across the globe. A reanalysis of their data, however, suggests that these conclusions may require revision. First, Shannon et al.’s (1) definition of “Central Asia” is questionable. Mongolia and Nepal [the two regions assigned to Central Asia by Shannon et al. (1)] are not associated with the common definition of Central Asia that includes the region bounded by the Caspian Sea, Russia, China, and Afghanistan, but are located in East Asia and South Asia, respectively. Although Mongolia is occasionally considered a part of Central Asia (e.g., by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), Nepal is not, but is considered … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: zhangyp{at}mail.kiz.ac.cn. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1