Has been with us a lot longer than we thought:

An international team of scientists has just identified what they believe is the world's first known dog, which was a large and toothy canine that lived 31,700 years ago and subsisted on a diet of horse, musk ox and reindeer, according to a new study.

The discovery could push back the date for the earliest dog by 17,700 years, since the second oldest known dog, found in Russia, dates to 14,000 years ago.

I wonder what part those early dogs played in bringing down the aforementioned horse, musk ox and reindeer? One thing is for sure -- while these were no doubt fine and noble animals, they were not "cute" by any stretch of the imagination.

Well, okay -- maybe as pups.