In the harsh Arctic climate, sled dogs are invaluable for transportation across the snow- and ice-bound landscape. Descended from a common ancestor, sled breeds include the Alaskan malamute, Siberian husky, and Samoyed. Unlike these breeds, Qimmit (the plural of Qimmeq) have pulled sleds in the same location for the same people for nearly 1,000 years. While other breeds have shifted to more domestic roles or interbred with other dogs, Qimmit have remained isolated.
Greenland is changing. Climate change and urbanization have impacted Qimmit numbers, which have halved to an estimated 13,000 dogs between 2002 and 2020. In the face of these pressures, researchers launched the QIMMEQ project — a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and Ilisimatusarfik University in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.
In their latest study, QIMMEQ researchers analyzed the genomes of 92 modern and ancient Qimmit across 800 years. These were then compared to 1,900 dog genomes. The results ...
