A biometric re-evaluation of recent claims for Early Upper Palaeolithic wolf domestication in Eurasia

The analysis presented here emphasises the substantial variability of both modern and Pleistocene wolf populations, and in doing so, further highlights the need for caution when considering species attributions and, more particularly, accurately identifying dog rather than wolf remains in archaeological assemblages. A combination of biometric and morphological data provides a reliable basis for critiquing a series of recent publications purportedly demonstrating the presence of dogs alongside humans during the Early Upper Palaeolithic.