Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. From their wolf ancestors to today’s sweet, loyal ...

Who said it first, no one knows. But Frederick the Great, warrior ruler and enlightened despot of 18th-century Prussia, said it well. “The only, absolute and best friend a man has, in this selfish ...

Analyses of fossils and ancient genomics reveal how early human populations bred less wolf-like companions, and how they might have traded them around the world. From Pomeranians to poodles, Saint ...