Wikipedia: "The dog (Canis familiaris[4][5] or Canis lupus familiaris[5]) is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from extinct Pleistocene wolves,[6][7] and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative.[8] Dogs were the first species to be domesticated[9][8] by hunter-gatherers over 15,000 years ago[7] before the development of agriculture.[1] Due to their long association with humans, dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals[10] and gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.[11]"