People, science fiction writers, visionaries and simply enthusiasts of progress regularly think about what people will look like in the future. But have you ever wondered what will happen to dogs in 10,000 years?
Veterinarians at the American genetic testing company for pets, Basepaws, decided to study this issue in more detail. Based on their data, they hypothesized how modern rocks might change over 10 millennia and asked artificial intelligence to create visualizations for their findings. The results were published by Interesting Engineering.
The company’s geneticists, together with veterinarian Henry Ward, considered two scenarios for the development of events with severe climate change. One suggests global warming, the other the onset of an ice age.
In this scenario, changes in global climate will affect how people can feed and care for dogs. According to Ward, rising temperatures across the planet will lead to a shortage of resources, and this, in turn, will cause dogs to lose weight.
In general, organisms that are smaller require less food and energy, and also cool better in hot weather. Reducing their body surface area will also allow dogs to reduce the exposure of their skin to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Ward also suggested that if the weather warms, dogs could develop darker skin tones and lose their fur.
In addition, extreme heat will force animals to switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. And in order to hunt in the dark, they will need large heads and ears. This will help, in particular, to remove more heat from the body. Changes will also occur in metabolism – four-legged animals will adapt to consume less water.
On the other hand, if the climate begins to change towards extreme cold, dogs will certainly grow thicker and voluminous fur, which will keep them warm. But Ward noted that science cannot give an accurate forecast of how the body dimensions of animals will change – will they grow or become smaller. One thing is for sure: they will begin to accumulate more fat, which will become an energy reservoir for them.
With a high degree of probability, dogs will return to the physique more typical of their ancestors – wolves, and will develop stronger muscles, which will allow them to run a lot and hunt effectively. And in the most extreme scenario, they will begin to compete with humans for prey and shelter, which could end thousands of years of friendship between our species.
Veterinarians and geneticists also thought about a third path of development – the colonization of other planets. It is possible that people will take their four-legged friends with them on their space journey. However, how this will affect their appearance depends on the conditions in which the animals find themselves.
Previously, OBOZ.UA talked about research by scientists who decided to find out whether dogs recognize their relatives – mothers, brothers and sisters.
