Coyote-related DNA segments reportedly found in Chihuahuas
Mezha reports that a Nature Communications study found genome regions classified by a model as coyote-related—not a breed-wide percentage of “coyote DNA.”
TLDR
Mezha reports that researchers used Gnomix and Gnofix tools to trace the origins of genome segments, identifying regions in Chihuahuas that a model classified as coyote-related. The study’s authors link the findings to the ancient history of dogs in the Americas and possible dog–coyote interbreeding before Europeans arrived. They did not determine a simple percentage of “coyote DNA” for the breed as a whole.
