爲何狗狗如此友善? 那是基因的原因!

Being friendly is in dogs' nature and could be key to how they came to share our lives, say US scientists.

據美國科學家表示，狗狗友善的天性可能是它們能與人類一起生活的關鍵因素。

Dogs evolved from wolves tens of thousands of years ago. During this time, certain genes that make dogs particularly gregarious have been selected for, according to research.

狗是在幾萬年前從狼進化而來的。研究顯示，在這段時間裏，某些使狗變得特別溫順合羣的基因留了下來。

This may give dogs their distinctive personalities, including a craving for human company.

這可能使得狗狗具備一些特別的個性，包括非常喜歡和人類待在一起。

"Our finding of genetic variation in both dogs and wolves provides a possible insight into animal personality, and may even suggest similar genes may have roles in other domestic species (maybe cats even)," said Dr Bridgett of Princeton University.

普林斯頓大學的布里奇特博士表示：“我們在狗和狼身上發現了一定程度的遺傳變異，這有助於瞭解動物的性格，甚至類似的基因可能在其他的物種(甚至是貓)中也有作用。”

The researchers studied the behaviour of domestic dogs, and grey wolves living in captivity. They carried out a number of tests of the animals' skills at problem-solving and sociability.

研究人員研究了家養狗和圈養的灰狼的行爲特點。同時，他們對動物的解決問題的能力和社交能力進行了一系列測試。

These showed that wolves were as good as dogs at solving problems, such as retrieving pieces of sausage from a plastic lunchbox.

這些研究表明，狼和狗一樣善於解決問題，比如從一個塑料午餐盒裏取出一些香腸。

Dogs, however, were much more friendly. They spent more time greeting human strangers and gazing at them, while wolves were somewhat aloof.

但是，狗更友好，他們會更願意向陌生人問好，並看着他們，而狼則有些冷漠。

DNA tests found a link between certain genetic changes and behaviours such as attentiveness to strangers or picking up on social cues.

DNA測試發現，某些基因與行爲有一定聯繫，如對陌生人的注意力，或對一些暗示的反應。

Dr Elaine Ostrander of the National Institutes of Health, who was a co-researcher on the study, said the information would be useful in studying human disease.

美國衛生研究院的伊萊恩·奧斯特蘭德博士也是研究人員之一，他表示，這些信息對研究人類疾病很有用。