Humans have partnered with sled dogs for 9,500 years
Sled dogs are not only incredibly adorable, but have unique genes that make them powerful travel-mates. (Benjamin Zanatta on Unsplash/)To an owner, every dog is special. Maybe your Beagle is brilliant, or your Goldendoodle is hilarious. But some dogs have traits that make them shockingly unique, and not just in their owners eyes—traits that date back thousands of years.One example is sled dogs, or modern-day huskies and malamutes. These big, fluffy animals make incredible pets and have a history of transporting people across barren, icy landscapes for thousands of years with the help of special heat-regulation and fat-digestion traits. And according to a new study published last month in Science, they may be one of the oldest unique dog types that have sniffed, barked, and run across the earth. The finding could help us better understand all kinds of modern sled dogs, and help keep them from going extinct in...