As a senior researcher at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy SB RAS, Yaroslav Kuzmin tells, the find has been discovered in the Altai Mountains in 1970s. The first study showed that the dog lived in the foothills of the Altai Mountains about 18 thousand years ago. In the 2000s, Russian scientists in collaboration with foreign colleagues conducted a direct radiocarbon dating dog skull, which showed a new date - 33,5 thousand years.

"It turned out that this is the oldest dog in the world, previously considered such a find in the parking lot Eliseevich in the Bryansk region, dating back about 17 thousand years" - said Yaroslav Kuzmin. New evidence let refute existing assumptions about the origin of domestic dog - East Asia or Africa.

Studies have shown that the Altaic dog differed from modern wolves - in the shape of the skull can be seen a distinct change, which is considered the most important criterion for separation the of domestic dog from wild ancestors. This suggests that 33-34 thousand years ago, the process of domestication of these animals in the Altai already gone far enough.

 Reference: In 2009 in the Journal of Archaeological Science an article announcing the discovery of domestic dog in a cave Goya in Belgium with a date of about 36.5 thousand years was published. However, the characteristics by which it can be compared with the Siberian dog, was not given. Thus, today the world's oldest known two dogs - in Belgium and in the Altai, who lived about 33,5-36,5 thousand years ago.