Forget man's best friend. More than 1,500 years ago, hunter-gatherers in the region that is now Argentine Patagonia kept foxes as pets. They were so loyal that they were even buried with their owners.
A multidisciplinary team of scientists was responsible for studying this unusual friendship with humans, published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science. They examined a grave from the archaeological site of Cañada Seca, 130 km from Mendoza in Argentina.
As well as revealing man's best friend in South America, the scientists discovered that modern dogs in the region are not genetically related to foxes, contrary to what was previously believed.
They shared food with us
The Argentine archaeological site was discovered in 1991 and contains the remains of 24 people and their personal belongings, such as beads, stone tools and tembetas (long objects inserted into the lower lip as adornment), better known as barbotes in Argentina.
In one of the graves, fox bones were found, identified by the current study as being of the species Dusicyon avus, a relative of the Falkland fox or wolverine(Dusicyon australis), which became extinct in the 19th century. It is believed that the animal was intentionally buried with a human.
By analyzing carbon and nitrogen isotopes, the team discovered that the fox had a diet rich in plants, very similar to that of the human buried with it. In the wild, this species is almost exclusively carnivorous, which suggests that it shared its diet with its owner.
Dogs(Canis familiaris) were first introduced to the south of the American continent around 4,000 years ago, when our ancestors arrived in the region. 3,000 years ago, however, they stopped spreading in northern Patagonia.
The first record of dogs in the area dates back to the 16th century, when the original peoples began breeding canines of European descent. By analyzing the ancient fox, scientists discovered that if it mated with dogs, most of the offspring would be infertile, ruling out the possibility that Argentina's modern dogs are descended from the now extinct species, which disappeared as we occupied its habitat.
