MIAMI.- The dogs They are the most widespread domestic animals in the world, with an estimated population of one billion. Many people think that when they wag their tail it is because they are happy, but the reality is much broader and more complex.
Although it is known that domesticated dogs use their tails to communicate with both other dogs and humans and even do so with various types of movements, the way and scientific explanations behind this act have not yet been deciphered.
However, a recent study by Dutch and Austrian experts from the Max Planck Institute in the Netherlands identified the real reason why dogs wag their tails more than other animals and the control they have over it.
The research published in a magazine article Biology Lettersrevealed that the typical movement is intended to communicate and means different things depending on the way it is shaken.
The position and movement of the tail may be one of the most striking animal behaviors that humans can observe, through which dogs emit easily observable informative signals, which humans can use to observe the internal state of the dogs.
Experts noted that wagging also means different things depending on how the tail moves, its height, or its side-to-side movement.
For example, when the tail moves more to the right, it usually means that the dog is interested in a stimulus or wants to get closer to something. But when it moves further to the left, it indicates uncertainty or a desire to withdraw.
While when it moves down and close to the legs, it is a sign of submission or insecurity. Dogs may interpret and react differently to these varied movements.
Among the important things about this enigma that scientists have managed to decipher is that unlike other animals, dogs do it mainly for communication, rather than for locomotion like whales or to scare away insects like horses.
Most animal scientists agree that such behavior is probably a form of communication, a means of expressing happiness at seeing someone they have missed. It is also important to understand the reason, for animal well-being and to help owners better read the signals of their four-legged companions.
Among the studies they examined was one that analyzed more than 40 species over four years and found that the domestic dog was the species that wagged its tail the most.
The analysis
To dig into this scientific mystery, researchers examined more than 100 previous studies to discover which elements of tail movement are understood and which remain mysterious.
In addition, they formulated some hypotheses about the origins of this behavior, including that perhaps the movement of the tail appeases some human need for rhythm, or perhaps it is a genetic accompaniment, a trait linked to others that humans bred in domesticated dogs.
A rhythmic domestication issue
One of the ideas put forward by the authors is that it is due to domesticated rhythmic movement, which indicates that the human brain responds positively to rhythm. Because tail wagging is a rhythmic behavior, the authors suggest that it could be that humans, consciously or unconsciously, prefer symmetrical rhythmic patterns.
Another hypothesis is that of the domestication syndrome that, in the opinion of scientists, could be at play. This theory holds that unwanted, genetically linked traits can appear when specific ones are created through domestication.
They suggest that the behavior did not appear as an isolated trait, but was a byproduct of selection on other general characteristics. According to experts, humans domesticated the most docile dogs, so perhaps only the tame ones had a tail-wagging gene.
“Perhaps canine characteristics that humans considered desirable to breed, such as temperament, could be genetically related to tail wagging,” they emphasized.
Evolution of behavior
Regarding how behavior evolved, the researchers noted that wolves and foxes move their tails very little; Therefore, it would seem to be a trait that evolved during the domestication process.
Another uncertainty is how much tail wagging is under the dogs’ conscious control. Several studies have noted that dogs wag their tails more than other canines, particularly compared to their closest relative, the wolf, but scientists still don’t know why.
They highlighted that a multidisciplinary approach that combines neurology, cognition and physiology would be useful in future research.
Finally, they emphasized that studying the behavior of dogs and their movements could also reveal data about human behavior, since the domestication process was also an evolutionary process, in which humans participated.
@Lydr05
Source: With information from the magazine Biology Letters
