mtDNA sequence....

In comparison, the gray wolf differs from its closest wild re

lative, the coyote, by about 4% of mitochondrial DNA sequence."[20] In the same
year, the domestic dog Canis familiaris was reclassified as Canis lupus familiar
is, a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis lupus in Mammal Species of the World.[21
] By 1999, further genetic analysis indicated that the domestic dog may have eme
rged from multiple wolf populations.[22][23] Based on these latest two pieces of
research and the reference reclassification, canis lupus familiaris is the name
for the taxon listed by ITIS.[24] However, canis familiaris is also accepted du
e to a nomenclature debate regarding the naming of wild and domestic sub-species
.[25]
As of January 2014, a mtDNA study of extant and extinct dog and wolf specimens r
aises a question about this classification. Refer Origin and Gray wolf.
Origin
Main article: Origin of the domestic dog
The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris or Canis familiaris), based on nuclear
DNA evidence as of January 2014, began from a single domestication 11 to 16 thou
sand years ago that predates the rise of agriculture and implies that the earlie
st dogs arose along with hunter-gatherers and not agriculturists.[26] Mitochondr
ial DNA evidence as of November 2013 indicates that all modern dogs are most clo
sely related to the extant and extinct canids of Europe[27][28] compared to earl
ier writers who