The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to dogs:
The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a
domesticated descendant of the
wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is
derived from the
extinctPleistocene wolf; the
gray wolf is the dog's closest living relative. The dog was the first
species to be domesticated by
humans. Experts estimate that
hunter-gatherers domesticated dogs more than 15,000 years ago, which was before the
development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals and gained the ability to thrive on a
starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other
canids.