Original document
Villegas Giménez, Belén — Master's dissertation · PDF · 3.1 MB
This is the most complete microsatellite study carried out to date on Iberian livestock dogs. It does not start from ideological premises: it works from function, history and population genetics. It is no longer an exploratory study like that of 2014: it is structural and comparative.
The author establishes something fundamental from the outset: dog breeds are dynamic populations, not sealed compartments. This perspective breaks with the classic FCI view and is central to understanding the Perro Lobo Español. The PLE does not fail to fit the FCI model because it is «impure»: the FCI model simply was not designed for ancient functional populations.
The PLE shows more genetic diversity than the German Shepherd and the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog. This rules out a modern bottleneck and, with it, the hypothesis that it is a recent creation or a derivative of modern European breeds.
In the Bayesian STRUCTURE analysis (K=9, best fit), the wolfhound group appears clearly differentiated and does not mix with the German Shepherd or the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog. It forms a cluster together with the Galician Palleiro and the Herreño: an Iberian group of its own, distinct from the Central European wolfdogs.
The Spanish Wolfhound separates clearly. The Czech Wolfhound is the most extreme, owing to its known hybridisation with wolves. The German Shepherd appears as a genetically impoverished group. All of this is consistent with the history of how each breed was created.
«[…] in the Iberian wolfhounds there is more genetic variability and diversity.»
— Villegas Giménez, B. (2019). Population structure and genetic variability of livestock dog breeds in the Iberian Peninsula, Azores, Canary and Balearic Islands. Trabajo Fin de Máster, UIMP – CSIC.
This work confirms that the PLE separates from the German Shepherd, reinforces that it is not a by-product of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, and adds three new elements compared with the Doadrio study: a far larger sample size (1,248 against 76), a better population structure and a more elaborate historical context —transhumance, functional selection, geographical distribution—. The 2014 study was neither accidental nor weak: this work confirms it with greater statistical power.
The author also opens up a far-reaching line of research: the possible Iberian origin of wolf-dog lineages exported to the Americas. A hypothesis which, if confirmed, would have historical and cynological implications of the first order.
From a strictly genetic standpoint: the PLE has high genetic diversity, forms a cluster of its own and is better differentiated than several breeds currently recognised by the FCI. It is an ancient functional population, maintained by selection for work, not for looks.