[Assorted pet news crossposted from GeneticFuture.org]

Once again, studies of mitochondrial DNA have revealed something interesting about the ancestral origins of species:

Aug. 3, 2004 — Dingoes, Australia's wild dogs, are descended from Asian domesticated dogs, not wolves, according to international research.
[Discovery Channel News, reporting on this PNAS abstract]

I love stuff like this. It reminds us that we humans (and our domesticated pets, for that matter) are not the pinnacle of evolution. More bad-ass stuff is yet to come. Take a look at this dingo, for example. Do you think Lassie would have a chance in an all-out claws and fangs battle with this puppy?

Kind of makes you wonder what house cats are going to evolve into...

Two kittens have been born using a new cloning method that may be safer and more efficient than traditional methods, a U.S. company said Thursday.

Genetic Savings & Clone promises to clone anyone’s pet -- for $50,000 or so -- and started with chief executive officer Lou Hawthorne’s own pet cat.
[As reported in this article in Wired News.]

You know, just in case you're concerned about running out of housecats once they evolve into something ferocious like the Australian dingo.