The dog is a unique beast. Loyal and affectionate, although a little oddly built, today's dogs are a far cry from the wild wolves from which they came. Whether fluffy, hairless, rooster-eyed, or bow-legged, each dog is a vast prototype of its own kind. The very idea that such a cooperative creature could arise from such a ruthless predator is astounding in itself. The fact that the multitude of breeds (340, according to the World Canine Organization (Melina, 2014)) can arise from a single point is worth studying. Indeed, how come there are so many different breeds of dogs? When approaching the subject in question, we must first ask ourselves: “What are dogs?” Evolutionarily, the modern domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is the descendant of a common ancestor with the gray wolf (Canis lupus) (Melina, 2014). As their Latin nomenclature suggests, dogs are only a subspecies of the wolf. Therefore, there are no large genetic misalignments that could prevent successful breeding between breeds (hence why dogs are possible). This is conversely false for wolves – distinct only in species – as well as for any member of two distinct genies, families, orders, classes, phyla or kingdoms. Breeds - simple typed mutations of the original - alone enjoy this special privilege. However, the marked physical and behavioral differences between dogs and their ancestor remain unexplained. If dogs are such a slight variation of the gray wolf, then why do they seem so variously alien to it compared to wolves of entirely different species? A reasonable explanation for this dissonance that comes to mind is that dogs must still be more different from each other in the genes that express physicality and behavior than...... middle of paper .... ..=0&no&content=true&page=3&css =printTrut, L. (Photographer). (2014). Piebald coat color [Web Photo]. Retrieved from https://www.americanscientist.org/issues/issue.aspx?id=813&y=0&no&content=true&page=3&css=printTrut, L. (Photographer). (2014). Foxes in the domesticated population [Web Photo]. Retrieved from https://www.americanscientist.org/issues/issue.aspx?id=813&y=0&no&content=true&page=3&css=printWayne, R. (Producer). (2014). The domestic dog: man's best friend in the age of genomics [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.k9dna.org/learn-about-dog-genetics/genetics-dog-diversity/canine-population-geneticsWayne, RK Linkage Disequilibrium and Demographic History of Wild and Domestic Canids.Genetics, 1493-1505. Retrieved May 14, 2014 from http://www.k9dna.org/references/journal-article/linkage-disequilibrium-and-demographic-history-wild-and-domestic-canids