Rosa Rubicondior: Creationism Refuted - Domestic Dogs Began to Diversify At Least 1,000 Years Before 'Creation Week'

Variations in skulls of modern dogs.

Extensive dog diversity millennia before modern breeding practices - University of Exeter News

There is, of course, no let-up in the steady stream of bad news for creationists to ignore in 2026, and today is no exception. This time the problem comes from archaeology and concerns events taking place toward the end of the very long span of Earth’s history that preceded creationism’s so-called *Creation Week*. The news is that the diversification of domestic dogs, descended from domesticated wolves, had already begun at least 11,000 years ago — long before anything resembling the modern concept of dog “breeds”.

The evidence is presented in a paper published in Science by a team led by palaeontologists from the University of Exeter and France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The researchers analysed 643 modern and archaeological canid skulls—including recognised breeds, village dogs, and wolves—spanning the last 50,000 years. In both geographical scope and time depth, it is the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind to date.

Using a technique known as geometric morphometrics, the team demonstrated that by the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods dogs already displayed a striking range of shapes and sizes. This diversity almost certainly reflects their varied roles in early human societies, from hunting and herding to guarding and companionship, rather than anything resembling systematic modern breeding.

All of this directly contradicts the claim in Genesis that animals were created fully formed for mankind’s exclusive use by an omnipotent and omniscient creator. Had that been the case, dogs would not require modification to make them fit for different purposes, nor would the archaeological record preserve clear evidence of their gradual evolutionary divergence from an ancestral wolf population. Instead, the evidence shows — unambiguously — that modern dogs are the product of an evolutionary process in which human-mediated selection played a central role, carried out by people who themselves existed long before the biblical timeline allows.

Background^ From Wolves to Dogs.

The Domestication and Origin of the Modern Day Dog.

Source: The Sled Dog Society of Wales.

Origins of domestication
Genetic and archaeological evidence shows that domestic dogs evolved from populations of grey wolves through a gradual process of domestication that began at least 20,000–30,000 years ago, and possibly earlier. This was not a single event but a prolonged interaction in which some wolves became tolerant of human proximity, scavenging near camps and gaining selective advantages from reduced fear and increased social adaptability.

Multiple pathways, not a single origin
Rather than dogs arising from one place or moment, evidence increasingly supports multiple domestication episodes or long-term gene flow between wolves and early dogs across Eurasia. This explains why early dog remains already show regional variation long before modern breeding practices.

Early roles of dogs
By the Mesolithic period, dogs were already performing diverse functions, including:

assisting in hunting and tracking,
guarding camps and settlements,
hauling loads,
and social companionship.

These roles imposed different selective pressures, producing variation in size, skull shape, dentition, and behaviour.

What changed in modern times
The extreme diversity seen in modern dog breeds is largely a recent phenomenon, driven by intensive selective breeding over the last few centuries. However, the archaeological record clearly shows that substantial morphological diversity existed thousands of years earlier, undermining claims that dogs were created in their present forms.

Why this matters
Dog domestication provides one of the clearest and best-documented examples of evolution by selection—observable, measurable, and preserved in the archaeological record. It directly contradicts the idea that animals were created fully formed and immutable, and instead demonstrates how human cultural practices can act as powerful evolutionary forces over relatively short timescales.

The findings of the Exeter-led team are summarised for a general audience in an Exeter University news article by Andrew Merrington.

Extensive dog diversity millennia before modern breeding practices
A groundbreaking archaeological study has revealed when domestic dogs first began to show the remarkable diversity that characterises them today. By applying cutting-edge shape analysis to hundreds of archaeological specimens spanning tens of thousands of years, researchers have traced the emergence of distinct dog forms deep into prehistory pinpointing the moment dogs began to diversify in size and shape – at least 11,000 years ago.
These findings challenge long-standing assumptions that canine diversity is largely a recent phenomenon shaped by selective breeding which started with the Victorian Kennel Clubs. Instead, the study demonstrates that significant variation in skull shape and size among domestic dogs was already present thousands of years ago, soon after their divergence from wolves.

Published in Science and led by the University of Exeter and the French CNRS, the study is the most comprehensive of its kind in terms of both geographic reach and timespan, with specimens ranging from the Pleistocene to the present day. The research, which began in 2014, analysed 643 modern and archaeological canid skulls – including recognised breeds, street dogs, and wolves- spanning the last 50,000 years.

The international team of archaeologists, curators and biologists from more than 40 institutions collaborated to create 3D models of the skulls to study their size and shape using a method known as geometric morphometrics. Results show that by the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, dogs already exhibited a wide range of shapes and sizes. This variation likely reflected their diverse roles in early human societies, from hunting and herding to companionship.

Photograph of an archaeological canid skull used for the photogrammetric reconstruction of 3D models in the study.

Image credit: C. Ameen (University of Exeter)

These results highlight the deep history of our relationship with dogs. Diversity among dogs isn’t just a product of Victorian breeders, but instead a legacy of thousands of years of coevolution with human societies.

Dr. Carly Ameen, co-lead author
Department of Archaeology and History
University of Exeter
Exeter, UK.

The earliest specimen identified as a domestic dog came from the Russian Mesolithic site of Veretye (dating to ~11,000 years ago). The team also identified early dogs from America (~8,500 years ago) and Asia (~7,500 years ago) with domestic skull shapes. After that, the study shows a lot of variation emerging relatively quickly.

A reduction in skull size for dogs is first detectable between 9,700–8,700 years ago, while an increase in size variance appears from 7,700 years ago. Greater variability in skull shape begins to emerge from around 8,200 years ago onwards. Modern dogs exhibit more extreme morphologies, such as short-faced bulldogs and long-faced borzois, which are absent in early archaeological specimens. However, there is a large amount of diversity among dogs even as early as the Neolithic; it was double that of Pleistocene specimens and already half the range seen in dogs today.

Dr Allowen Evin, co-lead author
ISEM, University of Montpellier,
CNRS, EPHE, IRD
Montpellier, France.

Static visualisation of skull shape differences between modern dogs (pink) and modern wolves (green), shown relative to an average morphology.
Image credit: C. Brassard (VetAgro Sup/Mecadev)

The study also underscores the challenges of tracing the earliest dogs. None of the Late Pleistocene specimens – some previously proposed as “proto-dogs” – had skull shapes consistent with domestication, suggesting that the very first stages of the process remain difficult to capture in the archaeological record.

The earliest phases of dog domestication are still hidden from view and the first dogs continue to elude us. But what we can now show with confidence is that once dogs emerged, they diversified rapidly. Their early variation reflects both natural ecological pressures and the profound impact of living alongside humans.

Professor Greger Larson, senior author
Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network
School of Archaeology
University of Oxford
Oxford, UK.

By demonstrating that dog diversity emerged millennia earlier than assumed, the study opens new avenues for exploring how human cultural and ecological shifts shaped the evolutionary history of our closest animal companions.

Publication:
Allowen Evin et al.
The emergence and diversification of dog morphology.
Science 390, 741-744 (2025). DOI:10.1126/science.adt0995

As usual, the reaction from creationist circles has been entirely predictable. Rather than engaging with the data, the findings are already being dismissed as either fabricated or the product of “faulty dating”, despite the fact that the study relies on multiple, well-established dating methods and comparative analyses drawn from hundreds of specimens across tens of thousands of years. This reflex rejection is not scepticism; it is denial. Any evidence that conflicts with a pre-decided conclusion must be waved away, regardless of its quality, scope, or independent corroboration.

Equally familiar is the claim that this is “not evolution” because there has been no change in “kind”. This objection fails on two levels. First, “kind” is not a biological concept and has no definition that can be applied consistently or tested scientifically. Second, dogs evolving from wolves are precisely what evolutionary biology predicts: descent with modification, driven here by a combination of natural and human-mediated selection. Evolution does not require the sudden appearance of entirely new creatures; it works through cumulative changes over time, which is exactly what the archaeological and genetic records reveal.

What makes this evidence particularly awkward for creationism is its historical depth. The diversification of dogs was already well underway thousands of years before the dates permitted by a literal reading of Genesis, and it occurred among human societies that themselves have no place in the biblical narrative. To accept the evidence is to accept that both dogs and humans have real, traceable histories extending far beyond the confines of Bronze Age mythology.

Once again, then, creationism is left with a stark choice: either reject yet another robust body of evidence by alleging conspiracy or incompetence, or accept that the natural world has a history that is older, richer, and far more interesting than the stories invented to explain it in pre-scientific times. As ever, the evidence is not going away—only the excuses are changing.

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