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| World of Dogs | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 2 2010, 03:00 AM (446 Views) | |
| KayKay | Sep 2 2010, 03:00 AM Post #1 |
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Adult
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I'm not sure how this could ever happen, but I wondered how the world would look if it was colonised mainly by the various dog breeds and how they would evolve over time. On all continents large land animals are basically extinct, with a few small prey animals remaining to feed the dogs such as rodents, birds, lizards and lagomorphs. There can be some hazards still remaining such as snakes and crocodilians. The scenario is that humans have gone from Earth. Either they left or became extinct themselves... I'm not sure. It's hard to think of something that would affect humans that wouldn't affect most dog breeds. Better with the greatest diversity of dog breeds possible. Since dog breeds have their own strengths and weaknesses they may diverge to fill niches they are best suited to. Some will undoubtedly go extinct without human care sadly, but it's best to minimize breed loss. Would wolves and wild dogs be included? Or should we just not include those either? Some ideas and things to consider: While some dog breeds may be localised, they will mostly be spread out across the globe. So if you find a particular dog breed in, say, North America, chances are they will be found on most other continents (even if the numbers contrast). For a while most continents will have similar canine fauna, with variations occurring by climate. Dogs form packs with other dog breeds and will often cross-breed. This will reduce the variation of breeds but will also mean very high genetic diversity to fuel speciation. Many dog breeds, while looking sturdy and strong, are littered with genetic faults that not only reduce their life span but also affect their fertility and general survivability. When dog breeds can produce offspring with one another so easily these genetic faults may spread for a while before being erased from the gene pools. An example may be the greyhound which looks like it could be very well suited to fast moving prey, but many dogs of this breed cannot even eat off the floor and need their human carers to provide an elevated bowl for them to eat from, or else they may suffer from damage to the oesophagus. Another is the English mastiff, which although it could easily scare off other dogs from prey or even take down other large dogs as prey, they suffer from a long list of health problems unless properly cared for by a human and even then some genetic problems are unavoidable. I can see the breed number being reduced to just a handful in each continent. |
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Sep 2 2010, 03:16 AM Post #2 |
Adult
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I think most would probably revert to their original form, and that is most efficient with some minor specialization. Except perhaps on a few islands, smaller dogs would be extinct. Millions of later as the only large carnivores they will have diversifed significantly and adapted into smaller food to adapt to smaller food even though the prey will gradually grow larger. Crocodilians would compete with them if they became endothermic and erect legged again. |
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new 
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| Ook | Sep 2 2010, 04:56 AM Post #3 |
not a Transhuman
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they will adapt to enviroment where they live-dog breeds which are from north are generaly wolf like,while dogs from warmer places are different.Some dogs could evolve into dominant big predators,while others became smaller generalists,some could be scanvegers etc. |
   
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