South Russian Ovcharka — an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of a real dog
An AI-generated illustration — not a photograph of a real dog.

South Russian Ovcharka

Placed on this panel from 3 sequenced dogs, among 258 breeds.

Measured nearest to Saluki — but drop any one of the sequenced dogs behind this breed and a different one comes first, so naming a single closest breed would be a lie of precision. The top of this list is a tie.

The 12 breeds nearest to South Russian Ovcharka.

The line starts at the tightest pairing this panel holds and ends at the widest separation measured on it, so how far along these marks sit is the answer to how close South Russian Ovcharka really is to anything.

1Saluki2Central Asian Shepherd Dog3Caucasian Ovcharka4Turkish Mastiff5Akbash6Kars7Anatolian Shepherd Dog8Sarplaninac9Turkish Zerdava10East-European shepherd11Czechoslovakian Wolfdog12Sloughi

Closeness is measured from the genomes, and nothing else. It has no units and no dates. Two breeds sitting close together means their lines separate late in this data. It does not mean either one came from the other.

3 sequenced dogs is a thin sample. This breed’s exact neighbours could move if more were added; the neighbourhood is steadier than the order within it.