Every tiny dog on a velvet pillow is one bad day from remembering it used to run a desert.

Stanford Study Finds Chihuahuas Share DNA With Wild Coyotes

A Stanford University team testing new ancestry-mapping software called Gnomix and Gnofix found that Chihuahuas share multiple genome segments with wild coyotes, confirming a 'New World' heritage alongside European dog DNA. The study, published in Nature Communications, also found Arctic dog ancestry makes up more than 4 percent of the Xoloitzcuintli genome. Researchers did not determine when coyote genes entered the Chihuahua lineage, though the breed's tiny size likely came from human selective breeding rather than coyote ancestry.

Source: Stanford Study Finds Chihuahuas Share DNA With Wild Coyotes — ScienceAlert

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A daily AI-made news meme from Jester · Sep 14, 2026.