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A human's best friend comes to The Anatomical Record : A special issue explores the world of the dog

2020; Wiley; Volume: 304; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/ar.24539

1932-8494

Jeffrey T. Laitman, Kurt H. Albertine,

Primate Behavior and Ecology

As we pen this article during the first crispness of fall, our world still labors under the unrelenting weight of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our universe is heavy with what seems like the never-ceasing silent cries of those afflicted, those mourning, and those fearing the silent beast. Even the physical beauty of our world has been affected: Utah's resplendent peaks have lost some of their luster (in part, the result of fearful smoke from a wave of unrelenting, recent fires); and the lights on New York's vaunted Broadway marquees have gone dim, putting a grey pallor on its usual warm glow. Our favorite restaurants are shuttered, many we fear permanently. And the faces of those who often robotically venture out to walk the streets are hidden behind masks that rob us all of our smiles. Travel to share our science with colleagues is but a cherished memory (we even miss our usual gladiator-like encounters with those disagreeing with our positions; ok, maybe there are a few curmudgeons we do not shed a tear over not hearing!). Even our children and grandchildren are affected as their usual funny/creepy Halloween costumes are relegated to the closet as our annual communal trek for candy and toys falls victim to this grim reaper. The pain of our current world is undeniably unrelenting and draining; there is little to lift our spirits or bring a warming smile. But, then, there is Fido. Or Rex, or Spot, or Lady, or Tramp, or Lassie. For those of us fortunate to share our world with a human's best friend, the miseries and robbing sadness of our days are momentarily forgotten when we come home, or just walk down the stairs, and are met by our loyal companion. The innate exuberance that greets us, the warming sensorial interactions (them licking, us kissing or petting, both freeing our endorphins) instantly changes our frown to a smile. These seemingly simple encounters are actually the end product of thousands of years of cohabitation. Not only being in proximity to one another, tolerating one another, or some symbiotic host/guest relationship, our “special relationship” is probably unique in the mammalian world. Indeed, the very success of our species, it has been argued, may well in part be due to the iron bond between humans and dogs. This unique bond between mammalian kin is the topic of this month's Special Issue. Entitled, “The Dog–Human Connection,” it is Guest Edited by Associate Editor Timothy D. Smith of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and Blaire Van Valkenburgh of the University of California, Los Angeles. The issue focuses a shining light on the many remarkable features of dogs from anatomical, physiological, evolutionary, and even behavioral directions, and how these have affected our bond Smith & Van Valkenburgh, 2021, this issue). The issue arose in large part from an Anatomical Record sponsored symposium, “The Dog–Human Connection: Evolution, Morphology and Behavior,” organized by Blaire Van Valkenburgh, Adam Miklósi, Greger Larson, Jeff Laitman, and Tim Smith and held at the 12th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology in Prague in July of 2019. In between marveling at the extraordinary beauty of this ancient city and embracing its fabulous food (and beers!), the participants delve deeply and broadly into the amazing world of our most loyal companions. Smith and Van Valkenburgh are regular contributors to our journal, for example, having teamed up previously to produce a now classic special issue on “The Vertebrate Nose: Evolution, Structure, and Function” (Laitman, 2014; Laitman & Albertine, 2014; Van Valkenburgh, Smith, & Craven, 2014). Both are stars in the anatomical and zoological firmament, having produced insightful science and fostered—as they have here—robust thought and integrated approaches to comprehending a broader picture of their target. Blaire—we are all too familiar for scholarly niceties—is the queen of the carnivorans and has studied and published on numerous aspects of their current and past worlds (e.g., Van Valkenburg, 2014). Indeed, as a vertebrate paleontologist, her work delves into some of history's most spectacular animals such as dire wolves or saber-toothed cats. Remarkably, for one who lives among nature's most fearsome groups with their claws and massive canines, Blaire is one of the most thoughtful, kind, gentle, and enlisting of scientists to work with. There is little new to say about our Anatomical Record colleague, Tim Smith, that we have not said in previous editorials for the special issues that he has overseen. Tim is an extraordinary scientist and insightful scholar and has added much to The Anatomical Record family. JL has known him since Tim was an effervescent and questioning graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh in the beginning of the computer age (try explaining what this world was like to our kids or grandkids today!). Tim's first love was exploring the world of our own closest relatives, nonhuman-primates (e.g., Burrows & Smith, 2003; Laitman, 2010; Laitman & Albertine, 2010; Organ, DeLeon, Wang, & Smith, 2010; Smith, Eiting, Bonar, & Dumont, 2014), with a particular focus on aspects of their development (see his recent, groundbreaking, text offering the first comprehensive review of newborn primate skeletal anatomy; Smith, DeLeon, Vinjard, & Young, 2020). Tim's enquiring mind gradually grew beyond the world of his beloved primates to include a broader, comparative array of mammals. As anyone who has worked with Tim will attest to, he is a tinderbox of creative, often novel, questions and ideas that push the limits of our current understandings. Along these lines can be seen his recent special issues of The Anatomical Record exploring the extremes of anatomical and behavioral forms in the animal world (Laitman & Albertine, 2020a, 2020b; Smith & Laitman, 2020a, 2020b). Receiving a call from Tim would invariably contain the phrase “…hey, I was thinking, could we do an issue on….” And we would be off on a new adventure, exploring monkeys swinging from trees, the world of naked mole rats, the demise of Gigantopithecus …or, the unique relationships between humans and our canine kin. For both authors of this article, working with Tim and Blaire on this special issue has been a reprieve from our harsh world as it has given us many smiles in reflecting on canines we have known and loved. KA, quite the outdoorsman and animal whisperer, has thought back with fond memories of Hans the dachshund and Ace the mutt (note by JL: it should be noted that said KA has also tried to become very friendly with both local moose and one very odd mountain lion; wait for the autobiography). JL, devoid of KAs animal bonding instincts (New York streets are not conducive to fostering positive animal interactions; and let us not talk about the subways!) has had much less success understanding the canine world, and has reminisced in this special issue with both love and not a little sadness regarding his late dog Joey (see Laitman, 2021, this issue). We have both learned much from this most special, special issue including the evolutionary history of domestic dogs and their relationship to wolves; the many anatomic and behavioral factors involved in domestication (looks like KA will have a hard time with the moose in his backyard!); effects of domestication on cranial shape and canid morphology; the extraordinary depth of canid olfaction and its role in bonding our species; uniquely derived aspects of eye muscles and facial expression that effectuate bonding; how cranial shape may affect balance; to the surprising world of dingos; among many other insights into anatomy, behavior, and evolution. As we end our article, we think back on the heartwarming and true story of the dog from Scotland in the late 19th century known as Greyfriars Bobby (see the beautiful novel built on the story by Atkinson, 1912). Bobby was a frisky Skye terrier who guarded the grave of his owner, John Gray (“Auld Jock” in the book) for 14 years in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, being there daily until his own death. The story of Bobby and his bond with his human is emblematic of the extraordinary linkage between species that through evolution have become soul mates. In this age of so much harshness and uncivility among humans themselves, exacerbated by the cruelty of the pandemic, looking at the warmth that exists in the dog–human connection reminds us of the goodness that can be in our world. We urge you to sit back (with your loyal companion at your side if you are so lucky) and both learn from, and smile at, the extraordinary insights into the link between our species offered in this month's special issue.