Alaskan Malamute

The Alaskan Malamute () is a large spitz-type breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance to haul heavy freight as a sled dog. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the Greenland Dog, Canadian Eskimo Dog, the Siberian Husky, and the Samoyed.

Lineage

Although it is believed that the first dogs arrived in the Americas 12,000 years ago, people and their dogs did not settle in the Arctic until the Paleo-Eskimo people 4,500 years ago, followed by the Thule people 1,000 years ago, with both originating from Siberia. Malamutes were thought to be bred by the Malimiut Inupiaq people of Alaska's Norton Sound region.

The Malamute has been identified as a basal breed that predates the emergence of the modern breeds in the 19th century. A study in 2013 showed that the Alaskan Malamute has a similar east Asian origin to, but is not clearly related to, the Greenland dog and the Canadian Eskimo dog, but contains a possible admixture of the Siberian husky.

In 2015, a study using several genetic markers indicated that the Malamute, the Siberian husky, and the Alaskan husky share a close genetic relationship between each other and were related to Chukotka sled dogs from Siberia. They were separate from the two Inuit dogs, the Canadian Eskimo dog and the Greenland dog. In North America, the Malamute and the Siberian husky both had maintained their Siberian lineage and had contributed significantly to the Alaskan husky, which showed evidence of crossing with European breeds that was consistent with this breed being created in post-colonial North America. DNA extracted from a 9,500-year-old dog, Zhokhov, named after the Siberian island, was found to have shared a common ancestor with the Greenland sledge dog, the Alaskan Malamute and the Siberian husky.