Behavioral characteristics observation and phylogenetic analysis of the Chow Chow
Qiu Hengqing
Ouyang Bei
Li Fang
Jiang Kai
Abstract：This study aimed to observe the behavioral characteristics of Chow Chows and explore their evolutionary origins.Behavioral traits of 12 Chow Chows were systematically observed.Mitochondrial D-loop region sequences of Chow Chows were downloaded and analyzed,with 17 dog breeds(e.g.,English Springer Spaniel and Rottweiler)as the ingroup and red fox,gray wolf,and coyote as the outgroup.Sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction were performed using MEGA software with neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood method.Results revealed that Chow Chows exhibit behavioral traits such as a gentle and loyal temperament,independent personality,low activity levels,aloofness towards humans,and a preference for sleeping.Phylogenetic analysis showed that Chow Chows clustered into a branch with Tibetan Mastiffs,then grouped into a major clade with Asian breeds such as Pungsan and Shiba Inu,while remaining distantly related to European breeds.The study indicates that Chow Chows originated from the gray wolf,share closer genetic ties with Asian dog breeds—particularly those of East Asian origin—and are phylogenetically distant from European breeds.
Keywords：Chow ChowBehavioral characteristicsPhylogeneticsEvolutionOrigin
Publication Date：2025-06-15
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 59-63 )