A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human

Incorporating insights from paleontology, biology, and the social sciences, Frydenborg (Chocolate) offers a fascinating study of the ways in which a relationship with canines has been pivotal to humanity’s development. Frydenborg structures the narrative around the 1994 discovery of the fossilized footprints of a prehistoric child in a cave in Southern France. Alongside the boy’s prints were those of a large, wolflike dog—arguably, the boy’s companion. This discovery, along with developments in canine science, suggested that humans have been living with dogs for thousands of years longer than previously believed. Canine studies, Frydenborg explains, have taken this notion even further, with the theory that wolves and humans coevolved: “Humans and dogs, living so closely together over time, evolved specialized brain capacities that complemented one another perfectly.” She also explores dog psychology, with a particular emphasis on the question of whether dogs possess “theory of mind.” Sidebars and color photographs supplement and expand on the central narrative, which is all but certain to leave readers thinking about their dogs, and themselves, in entirely new ways. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)