Speciation of the Domestic Dog?

Question

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is generally considered as a sub-species of the wolf (Canis lupus).
The wolf itself has several sub-species: Timber Wolf (Canis lupus lycaon), Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos), European Wolf (Canis lupus lupus), the archetypal Grey Wolf (Canis lupus), and more.
And, of course, there are many different breeds of the domestic dog, from the Chihuahua to the St. Bernard.

My question is:
If the Chihuahua and St. Bernard are physically incapable of mating with each other, due to the difference in size, can they be considered to have speciated?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

My Chihuahua is so dumb, if it mated with a full-fledged retard, it would be a step up.

Joan H · Answer

No. They are still the same species. You might be surprised at the ingenuity those two breeds would have in reproducing if a male and female were left alone in a room at the right time for the female!

The mother has a lot to do with the size of offspring at birth. There are elements at work in the womb while the embryo is growing to limit its growth to the size the mother's body can tolerate.

That's not to say that different breeds of dogs couldn't form different species, but it would be in a much longer time frame than those two breeds have been artificially kept separate.

thom t · Answer

Love will find a way!
There is an interesting article questioning both creationism and evolution, in Issue 9(Sept-Dec 2007) of UNCENSORED, a New Zealand magazine. For example, the Cheetah has both dog-like and cat-like characteristics. And humans have all the characteristics of DOMESTICATED animals.
The lack of a missing link might suggest that someone's been messing around with OUR genes.

gus_zalenski · Answer

Interesting point, but my opinion is yes.

Speciation of the Domestic Dog?

4 Answers