Did the Red Fox Predate the Dog as Man's Best Friend?

Pets have longed played a role in human companionship.  Wild animals were primarily a source of food (and danger) in early human development.  Later in evolution,  animals began to serve a more complex role.  Domestication of a variety of animals served a more utilitarian role.  For example, domestication of horses allowed for extended travel, improved efficiency of hunting and provided a strategic advantage in battle.


The domestications of wild wolves has been felt to be one of the earliest examples of using animals for companionship and the development of a human/mammal pet relationship.  Now some recent archaelogical research suggests that the red fox may have predated the domesticated wolf as the original canine domesticated by humans.


Mather and colleagues present the case for the red fox predating domesticated wolves in a recent research summary in Plos One.  This research team includes members from the University of Cambridge in the UK as well as the University of Toronto.  Using findings from burial grounds in what is now northern Jordan, they lay out the evidence that the red fox predates the wolf as man's domesticated canine.


Seven human grave sites have been examined in the Uyun al-Hamman region between the Transjordanian Highlands and the Jordan valley.  The key elements from these findings include:

• Red fox skulls and bones are noted in several burial sites in proximity to human remains
• The proximity and manner of red fox bones suggest intentional placement rather than coincidence
• Some human bones were re-interred with movement and replacement of  red fox bones in the new grave
• This re-burial process suggests a personal relationship between the deceased human and a specific red fox--the transfer may have indicated an attempt that "the dead person would continue to have the fox with him or her in the afterlife"
• The pattern of remains are not consistent with some secondary process such as use the red fox as a pelt or as part of consumption of the animal
• The carbon dating data suggest this area and this burial site pre-dated by thousands of years the earliest known burial sites that include domesticated wolves
• Later grave sites show humans being buried with dogs supporting an emotional tie with social, ideological or symbolic significance

In summary, the research team feels these recent findings support an earlier "non-economic connections between people and animals".


I admit this post is outside my area of expertise.  However, we are becoming more aware of the potential importance of pet relationships in reducing loneliness, stress reduction and social psychology.  I do have to note that I took the photo of the red fox in this post in the winter of 2009-2010 in my back yard in Tulsa Oklahoma.  After a prolonged period of very low temperatures and frozen water sources, this red fox jumped a fence into my back yard and drank from our pool.  This research study suggests the red fox was one of man's earliest pets.  I'm happy to do whatever I can to aid this beautiful animal.


Photo of Red Fox Courtesy of Yates Photography


Maher, L., Stock, J., Finney, S., Heywood, J., Miracle, P., & Banning, E. (2011). A Unique Human-Fox Burial from a Pre-Natufian Cemetery in the Levant (Jordan) PLoS ONE, 6 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015815