According to a study by researchers at UCLA, golden retrievers share more genetic markers with Middle Eastern wolves, which suggests they are derived from them. Middle Eastern wolves are smaller than golden retrievers on average, have prick ears, and don’t really spent much time in the water. None have been trained to retrieve ducks or other birds or find contraband or explosives. And they haven’t been used as guide or assistance dogs either.
Some evolution had to have happened there, eh?
It’s hard to believe that in this day and age there are still “intelligent” people who don’t believe in evolution. Not that I would consider Kirk Cameron a particularly “intelligent” person.
He’s not, and he’s not a nice guy either. I’ve read accounts of what he did to other cast members on Growing Pains for being “unpure” and “not Christian.”
I read that paper by vonHoldt, et al. last week. I thought it was really interesting that it showed goldens were more closely related to Dobermans and Bernese mountain dogs, or even boxers and whippets, than to any of the spaniels. I would have thought with spaniel in their background the cladogram would reflect that. But then again I don’t know enough about the techniques to judge how accurate the cladograms might be.
My take on it is that the Tweed water spaniel wasn’t a water spaniel. Instead, it was a rougher form of curly-coated retriever derived from the St. John’s water dog and a bit of native water spaniel blood. There were only two in the whole bloodline though, Belle and a male.