Chernobyl dogs are evolving – and even have unique genetics

The dogs of Chernobyl, the city in Ukraine impacted by the 1986 nuclear power plant disaster, have unique genetics compared to other dogs worldwide, according to research from American, Polish and Ukrainian academics.

Scientists took samples from – and analysed the genetic data of - 302 dogs of varying distances from the power plant, from those living on the site, to those found between 15 to 45 kilometres from the disaster zone.

The study, published in Science Advances in March last year, states: “Our findings highlight the tendency of semi-feral dogs, much like their wild canid ancestors, to form packs of related individuals. However, our findings also reveal that within this region, small family groups or packs of free-roaming dogs coexist in close proximity to each other, a phenomenon at odds with the generally territorial nature of domestic dog’s closest ancestor, the gray wolf.

“Free-roaming dogs in urban areas tend to adapt their territoriality and day-to-day movement in response to humans in the region; generally, their home range consists of a small core, where they sleep, and a buffer zone, where they search for food.

“The combination of observed behaviors in the Chernobyl dogs and their complex family structures suggests that the Chernobyl dog populations violate the assumption of random mating that is inherent to many population genetic models.

“Genetic differentiation from other purebred and free-breeding dogs suggests that the Chernobyl populations have a unique genomic signature.”

The scientists also noted information which suggests that dogs in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant area are “most likely to represent” dogs which lived in the region before or immediately after the accident, and said it “remains unclear” whether dogs in the “greater Chernobyl area” descended from pets abandoned by evacuees in the 80s.

Elaine Ostrander, study author and geneticist at the US National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute, told IFLScience: “I think the most remarkable thing about this study is that we identify populations of dogs living in and in the shadow of the reactor, and we can tell who those dogs are just by looking at their DNA profile.

“We also find that the dogs living in the exclusion zone now are likely descendants of pets from the people that fled the area when the explosion happened.

“We can see the history of those pets etched in the DNA of dogs living in the exclusion zone today.”

It's not the only bizarre discovery to come out of Chernobyl in recent years, as scientists have also discovered a fungus which could help clean up the site by 'drinking radiation', and worms at the site which could provide the cure for cancer.

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