Recent genetic research has identified the oldest known dog, dating back 15,800 years. According to researchers, this dog, whose bones were found at a rock site in Pinarbası, Turkey, was used by ancient hunters. It is about 5,000 years older than the previously oldest genetically confirmed member of the dog family. The scientists added that the history of the Pinarbası dog and several other dogs identified in other parts of Europe from the same era shows that these animals were widespread and were an integral part of human culture thousands of years before the advent of agriculture. The new findings were presented in two scientific papers published yesterday in the journal 'Nature'. William Marsh, a researcher at the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London, stated that DNA evidence indicates that dogs existed in different regions of West Eurasia 18,000 years ago and were already genetically distinct from wolves. Marsh added: 'We imagine that the dog and wolf populations diverged much earlier, likely before the last glacial maximum, that is, 24,000 years ago, but there is still a lot of uncertainty'.