The fourteen ancient breeds

Fourteen ancient breeds of dog have recently been identified through advances in DNA analysis. These breeds of domesticated dog show the fewest genetic differences from wolves. The breeds are geographically diverse, including dogs from Siberia, Japan, Alaska, China, Tibet, and Africa.
The identification of the fourteen "Ancient" dog breeds was established in the article "Genetic Structure of the Purebred Domestic Dog" by Parker et alii in the journal Science , Volume 304 (May 21, 2004) (PubMed link ). This study compared DNA from dogs of 85 AKC-registered breeds (5 individuals per breed in most cases); according to the Supplementary Online Information published with the article, "Particular efforts were made to sample the most popular breeds." As there are some 400 known dog breeds (of which the AKC recognizes 157), it is likely that an extended study would reveal additional "ancient" breeds.
The following are the dog breeds listed as ancient in the published study and their countries

• Canaan Dog (Israel)
• Afghan Hound (Afghanistan)
• Akita (Japan)
• Alaskan Malamute (United States (Alaska)
• Basenji (Congo)
• Chow Chow (China)
• Lhasa Apso (China (Tibet)
• Pekingese (China)
• Saluki (Egypt, Persia)
• Samoyed (Siberia)
• Shar Pei (China)
• Shiba Inu (Japan)
• Shih Tzu (China (Tibet)
• Siberian Husky (Siberia)
• Tibetan Terrier (China (Tibet)