Download LEISURE--L1-10-02 - hgw.qxd

Tuesday 10th February, 2009
covered in
2007 by geneticist Greg Barsh of
Stanford University.
It belongs to a family of genes
thought to be involved in fighting
infections.
children’s
fairy tales, but it
now appears that they
inherited their colour from
a much more warm and fuzzy
animal — the dog.
True, dogs are descended from
The big black wolf
is a legacy from
dogs, study finds
Researchers have determined that black-coated wolves, like these in Yellowstone National Park, got their distinctive colour
from dogs.
he fur color was bred into
dogs by humans, then introduced into wild wolves and
coyotes, researchers say. It appears
almost exclusively in North
America.
Black wolves and coyotes are
often the villains of cartoons and
T
wolves, but research Friday in the
journal Science indicates that black
fur was bred into dogs by humans,
then inadvertently introduced into
the wild species.
The trait shows up in the wild
primarily in North America, and it
was probably brought to the continent about 15,000 years ago when
Rice &
Meat Mania
1/2 cup of either hamburger, ground
pork (cooked all the way through),
ground chicken, ground turkey, or liver
4 cups rice
1 cup vegetables— choose 1 or more
of either sweet potato, regular
potato, green beans, carrots, or
spinach
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic
Boil all ingredients together in a large
pot. Be sure that if you used pork, it is
cooked all the way through.
Dog rescued after falling
through ice in Hingham
firefighter became
exhausted and required
medical treatment after
helping to rescue a dog that fell
through the ice in Hingham
Harbor this morning, a close
call that prompted officials to
urge people to keep their dogs
leashed when near ice-covered
bodies of water.
Firefighters were called to
World’s End, a park on the harbor shortly after 9 a.m., said
Fire Lieutenant Victor Bernan.
They found a black Labrador
that had gone 300 feet out before
falling through.
Firefighters donned cold
A
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the first immigrants crossed over
the Bering land bridge, bringing
their dogs with them.
The fact that the mutation has
stayed in the wild population for so
long suggests that it is beneficial in
some way.
The gene responsible for the
color, called beta-defensin, was dis-
When the gene appears in its
normal form, the animal has a light
or yellow-colored coat. But when
one copy of the gene is missing
three nucleotides, the animal develops a black coat.
Studying genes from a large
number of wolves, coyotes and
dogs, Barsh and his colleagues concluded that the current mutation
first appeared in dogs about 50,000
years ago.
It may also have appeared in
wild animals, then disappeared
again, the researchers speculated.
They also concluded that the
mutation appeared in wolves and
coyotes some time after the first
humans reached North America.
Its almost exclusive appearance
in the New World is probably
because it was much easier for dogs
to mingle with the wild animals
here than in Europe, said Barsh’s
graduate student Tovi Anderson.
Black coats occur in about 62%
of wolves in the forested areas of
the Canadian Arctic, compared
with about 7% in the icy tundra.
Researchers agree that the coat
does not camouflage the animals
from predators, but it may help
them sneak up on prey.
The mutated gene might also
provide a better immune defense
against infectious agents that occur
primarily in the warmer forests,
Barsh said.
water rescue suits and had to
battle their way through ice and
slush to reach the dog. Two firefighters went all the way out,
while a third assisted them
nearer shore, said Fire Captain
Joseph Mortland.
James Sheard, a firefighterparamedic, grabbed the dog and
brought it most of the way to
shore, which left Sheard
exhausted, Mortland said.
Sheard was treated and released
from a hospital and was fine by
this afternoon, officials said.
Fire officials said they perform such rescues so people
won’t endanger themselves by
trying to save their pets. But the
rescues are still hazardous.
“The dog owner should
know better — not to let the dog
go. We are risking ourselves to
save a dog, which we will do,
but we wish we didn’t have to,”
Bernan said.
“We’re always very cautious
when we have to put a firefighter out in the open water in the
Atlantic Ocean. He’s at risk. If
it’s a situation where the dog
should have been on a leash,
we’d just appreciate them having a little consideration for us
as well,” said Fire Chief Mark
Duff.
Biggest dogs
in the world!
Some dogs
are good
and some
are
bad..hope
we get the
good ones.