Scientists finally figured out why dogs love to be bones. According to the Colombian biologists, who investigated the evolution of dogs, changes in the structure of supply of these animals coincided with the emergence gregarious way of life.

About 8 million years ago these predators began hunting in flocks in large animals like elk, bison and deer.

The need to unite in flocks led to a change in the structure of the jaws, the ancestors of dogs

As found by researchers from the National University of Colombia, this has led to changes in the structure of the jaws of the ancestors of the modern dog and turned them into "superprotonic" predators.

Dr. Joao Munoz-Doran presented the results of that study to the Press First joint Congress on evolutionary biology in Ottawa.

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He and his team created the genealogy of the genus Canis, which includes more than 300 species of dogs, wolves, coyotes and jackals.

This model scheme of the evolution of the ancestors of the modern dog shows, when there was every kind; it allows scientists to understand how the way of life and habitat of the animal influenced the structure of its skull.

"We compared the views, the food which was very different, " said Dr. Munoz-Doran. - We have designated them as carnivores, superprotonic and omnivorous animals".

The study lifestyle superprotonic, among which is the closest ancestor of the modern dog, a wolf of the subgenus Lupus, showed that a strong jaw and large fangs began to appear only when these predators began to hunt large game flocks.

"Eight million years ago in Europe, Asia and North America began to withdraw forests and appearance of open steppe spaces. In these new conditions of life of large mammals began to graze large herds to protect themselves from predators", says biologist.

The only way for a dog-like, who lived in the same habitat, discourage from such a herd of big sacrifice was the gathering.

Evolved over hundreds of generations to new physiological traits is more powerful jaws and large canine teeth, which gave such predators evolutionary advantage.

Predators with strong jaws and big teeth were more likely to survive

This was accompanied by the development of the jaw muscles, which need a permanent job. According to the researchers, at the same time, the ancestors of dog appeared very flexible bones in the structure of the jaw, which enabled it to withstand high mechanical loads at cutting the victim.

In other words, numerous subgenera of the genus Canis gained physiological tools that made them "superherione", perfectly adapted to living and hunting on the vast steppe areas of Europe and Asia.

That is why modern dogs love to chew bones - for them it is fixed by the evolution of the adaptation mechanism, which consists of millions of years.