Origin and diversity of Greenland’s ancient sled dogs

Genomic insights into Greenland’s iconic sled dog reveal a rich history of Inuit migration and Arctic adaptation, according to a new study. The findings provide a crucial guide for preserving the ancient breed amid climate threats and rapid cultural change. For over 9,500 years, sled dogs have been a central part of Arctic life. While many Arctic sled dog breeds have been replaced, mixed with other dogs, or shifted into domestic roles, the Greenland sled dog, or Qimmeq (pl. Qimmit), has uniquely preserved its traditional role as a working sled dog. However, this ancient working relationship now faces modern threats: climate change, urbanization, and modern technologies like snowmobiles are rapidly eroding the conditions that have long supported Qimmit and their traditional role. The ongoing decline in Qimmeq population underscores the urgency of documenting their remaining genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. To reconstruct the breed’s history, Tatiana Feuerborn and colleagues sequenced genomes from 92 dogs across Greenland spanning the past 800 years, capturing both ancient and modern individuals, and compared them with over 1,900 published dog genomes. Feuerborn et al. discovered that Qimmit form a distinct clade with other ancient Arctic dogs – most notably a 3,700-year-old Alaskan dog. This genetic continuity, despite thousands of years and great geographic distances, supports the theory of a rapid Inuit migration across the North American Arctic. Notably, the authors found that the genetic differentiation among regional dog populations mirrors the cultural and linguistic divisions of the indigenous peoples of Greenland. Moreover, the analysis revealed further evidence of two distinct migrations of dogs into Greenland, with data that indicate an earlier-than-expected arrival of people to the region. Feuerborn et al. also show that despite European colonization of Greenland, there is minimal European ancestry in present-day Qimmit, likely due to overall isolation of the populations and more modern preservation policies. “These insights into the Qimmit provide a baseline for levels of inbreeding and introgression that can serve as a foundation for informed management aimed at the preservation of these remarkable dogs,” write the authors. “Studies such as this demonstrate the relevance of paleogenomic insight into current conversations and decisions centered around conservation and preservation of culturally significant species.”

Podcast: A segment of Science's weekly podcast with Tatiana Feuerborn, related to this research, will be available on the Science.org podcast landing page after the embargo lifts. Reporters are free to make use of the segments for broadcast purposes and/or quote from them – with appropriate attribution (i.e., cite "Science podcast"). Please note that the file itself should not be posted to any other Web site.