DOGS DECODED - Movie Notes                Name____________________

1. Why do scientists think that dogs make such good companions for humans?

2. Why is it an advantage for dogs to be able to read human emotions?

3. When do wolves bark? How is this different than when domesticated dogs bark?

4. Based on mitochondrial DNA, what animals are the ancestors of dogs?

5. Using the venn diagram, compare a wolf skull to a dog skull:

6. When were dogs domesticated….best guess?

Archaeologist have this recent date:              

         Older dates based on mitochondrial DNA studied by geneticist?

7. How similar are dogs and wolves genetically?

8.  Why are dogs so different from wolves if they are so similar genetically?

9.  In Siberia, scientists decided to try to breed silver foxes to be domestic animals. How did they decide which foxes to breed? How many generations did it take for foxes to become interested in humans?   What did the research in Siberia show about whether silver foxes could be bred to be tame, domestic animals?

10.  Scientists in Siberia also bred a group of foxes to be more aggressive towards human. Compare and contrast the genetic and physical differences between tame and aggressive foxes:

11.  What is something new you learned about wolf/dogs from this movie?

12.  What are some questions you still have?