Tibetan mastiffs mate with mountain wolves to survive in high mountains

Until now, the Tibetan mastiff was known to be a giant breed that lived in the mountains. By now, we know, this breed has the ability to reproduce in such harsh environments, with such low oxygen levels derived from the traits of wolves in its genetic makeup. of them.

According to the authors of a recent study of species genes, this giant dog, weighing up to 150 lbs (70 kg), is ' famous for its ability to tolerate hypoxia.' That means that Tibetan mastiffs can breed in mountainous areas, where other dogs can be killed because of thin air.

Tibetan Mastiff.(Source: © Shutterstock).

Recently, according to a document published July 30 in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, we have an explanation: in the past, this breed had mated with Tibetan wolves and later generations of they inherit the mutation that encodes two amino acids in the protein, thereby allowing the breed's color to absorb and release oxygen better.

Researchers have learned from other previous studies that: Tibetan Mastiffs and Tibetan wolves all share a mutant pair that does not appear in other breeds . But this is the first study to show the role of modified amino acids .

Studies have shown that these two 'twists' have changed the way Tibetan dogs and wolves produce hemoglobin (hemoglobin), an iron-containing protein that transports oxygen. They have compared the hemoglobin between the mastiffs and Tibetan wolves with the hemoglobin of other domestic dogs and the results showed that the mastiffs and the wolf coyotes have a great advantage in their ability to absorb and release oxygen under conditions. thin air condition.

Tibetan wolf.(Image credit: Shutterstock)

'In the uplands, the problem with animal life is the uptake of oxygen,' said Tony Signore, a biologist from Nebraska-Lincoln University and an author of the study. , shared in a statement: 'If you think of hemoglobin as an oxygen-absorbing magnet, the magnet of a Tibetan mastiff is much stronger'.

From research on this gene, the scientists said that, from ancient times, Tibetan wolves sometimes had mutations in a piece of static DNA that could not encode the protein. However, at some point, these mutations were copied into the active gene and accordingly this wolf species possessed hemoglobin that was changed.

When wolves migrate to higher altitudes, some of them possess these mutations that quickly adapt to the environment and dominate the species. And later, this wolf passed on this altered gene to Tibetan mastiffs with exceptional ability to survive in areas of high oxygen-free mountains.

1. A close-up of "huge" Tibetan mastiffs
2. The breed has a 'lion bite' stronger than the Tibetan mastiff