THIS CHART SHOWS THE FAMILY TREE OF 119 DIFFERENT BREEDS OF DOGS
Reginald Wells
February 14, 1955
When man first became interested in the breeding of dogs, it was generally thought that the wolf was the common ancestor of all canines. The best scientific evidence available, however, now indicates it was a small creature much like the civet cat, which was called Tomarctus and lived 15 million years ago. Tomarctus is so pictured on this chart, and the black lines branching out from him lead to the four earliest breeds of dogs, all wild and all now extinct. From these developed, before 6000 B.C., the four general groups of modern domestic dogs. The blue lines at the left of the chart show how herd dogs descend from Canis familiaris metris-optimae. The group to the right, joined by ochre lines, shows how closely related the large hunting dogs are to the small toy dogs. The red lines show that hounds and terriers fall into one group. The gray lines at far right connect the guard dogs. The dotted lines indicate important breed crossings among the 119 dogs shown here. The origin of some breeds, however, is a mystery, particularly that of the Puli, which has baffled experts for centuries.
When man first became interested in the breeding of dogs, it was generally thought that the wolf was the common ancestor of all canines. The best scientific evidence available, however, now indicates it was a small creature much like the civet cat, which was called Tomarctus and lived 15 million years ago. Tomarctus is so pictured on this chart, and the black lines branching out from him lead to the four earliest breeds of dogs, all wild and all now extinct. From these developed, before 6000 B.C., the four general groups of modern domestic dogs. The blue lines at the left of the chart show how herd dogs descend from Canis familiaris metris-optimae. The group to the right, joined by ochre lines, shows how closely related the large hunting dogs are to the small toy dogs. The red lines show that hounds and terriers fall into one group. The gray lines at far right connect the guard dogs. The dotted lines indicate important breed crossings among the 119 dogs shown here. The origin of some breeds, however, is a mystery, particularly that of the Puli, which has baffled experts for centuries.
PERSIAN SHEEPDOG*
COLLIE
GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG
OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG
BRIARD
POMERANIAN
BORDER COLLIE
SHETLAND SHEEPDOG
BELGIAN SHEEPDOG
SCHIPPERKE
WELSH PEMBROKE CORGI
SIBERIAN HUSKY
ALASKAN MALAMUTE
ESKIMO DOG
CHIHUAHUA
NORWEGIAN ELKHOUND
CHOW CHOW
KEESHOND
FIELD SPANIEL
NORFOLK
SPANIEL*
IRISH SETTER
ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL
COCKER SPANIEL
GERMAN SHORT-HAIRED POINTE
EGYPTIAN GREYHOUND*
SALUKI
AFGHAN HOUND
ITALIAN GREYHOUND
INDIAN GREYHOUND
SLEUTH HOUND*
GREYHOUND
GREAT DANE
IRISH WOLFHOUND
WHIPPET
VENDEE HOUND*
ST. HUBERT HOUND*
BASSET HOUND
DACHSHUND
BEAGLE
OLD ENGLISH ROUGH TERRIER*
TALBOTT HOUND*
SCOTTISH DEERHOUND
FOXHOUND
BLOODHOUND
GOLDEN RETRIEVER
SCOTTISH TERRIER
CAIRN TERRIER
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER
DANOIE DINMONT TERRIER
SMOOTH-HAIRED FOX TERRIER
IRISH TERRIER
FOX TERRIER
KERRY BLUE TERRIER
BEDLINGTON TERRIER
SEALYHAM TERRIE
CANIS FAMILIARIS METRIS OPTIMAE*
CANIS FAMILIARIS INTERMEDIUS*
TOMARCTUS*
CANIS FAMILIARIS LEINER*
SAMOYED
LHASA APSO (TERRIER)
EGYPTIAN HOUSE DOG:
MALTESE DOG
TECHICHI*
SHOCK DOG*
LION DOG*
BORZOI OR RUSSIAN WOLFHOUND
MEXICAN HAIRLESS
ITALIAN SPANIEL*
PUG
PEKINGESE
PYRAME*
SPANISH SPANIEL
POODLE
JAPANESE SPANIEL
PAPILLON
ENGLISH SETTER
BRAQUE*
IRISH WATER SPANIEL
OTTERHOUND
GORDON SETTER
POINTER
DALMATIAN
GERMAN POINTER
BRITTANY SPANIEL
WEIMARANER
WELSH TERRIER
AIREDALE TERRIER
SKYE TERRIER
YORKSHIRE TERRIER
BREEDS WHICH ARE NOW EXTINCT
CANIS FAMILIARIS INOSTRANZEWI*
MOLOSSIAN DOG*
TIBETIAN MASTIFF
RUSSIAN TRACKER*
ALAUNT*
KUVASZ
GREAT PYRENEES
MASTIFF
PULI[PULI]
TALHUND*
NEWFOUNDLAND DOG
ALANO
DOGUE DE BORDEAUX*
BRABANTER*
ST. BERNARD
BULLDOG
BOXER
BOUVIER DES FLANDRES
CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVER
WHITE ENGLISH TERRIER*
MANCHESTER TERRIER
STANDARD SCHNAUZER
BULL AND TERRIER*
CURLY-COATED RETRIEVER
DOBERMAN PINSCHER
LABRADOR RETRIEVER
BULL TERRIER
STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER
BOSTON TERRIER
MINIATURE PINSCHER
[PULI]Just where the Puli came from, nobody knows. Based on several experts' opinion, SI places it under the Kuvasz, a Hungarian sheepdog.
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