Dogs have been ‘man’s best friend’ throughout living history, but when did we first adopt these furry companions, and how have they evolved since then? Working closely with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a large network of international collaborators, researchers Pontus Skoglund and Anders Bergström from The Francis Crick Institute in London analysed DNA from 216 canid skeletal remains, including 181 pre-Neolithic samples (before approx. 10,000 years ago), before the invention of farming. These samples came from sites across Europe and its vicinity, including Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Denmark and Scotland.