What underlying behavioral trait in *Canis lupus* allowed for adaptation to domestication?
Answer
A higher degree of behavioral plasticity.
The evolutionary trajectory that allowed *Canis lupus* to diverge into the domestic dog, *C. l. familiaris*, points to an intrinsic genetic predisposition for flexibility in behavior. This behavioral plasticity is an evolutionary trait that permitted wolves to adapt successfully to a wide variety of environments across the Northern Hemisphere. This underlying flexibility, rather than hyper-specialization for a single niche, is what made the ancestral wolf capable of thriving alongside human populations and eventually undergoing the process of domestication.
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