Why Shar Pei Dogs Have So Many Wrinkles

A group of researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have discovered the origin of the mucinosis present in Shar Pei dogs, a hereditary disorder responsible for the characteristic wrinkles found in this breed. Shar Pei dogs have unique characteristics. The breed originated in the south of China more than two thousand years ago with the Han dynasty and was used as guard dogs and shepherds. After the communist revolution of Mao Tse-Tung the Shar Pei breed almost disappeared. However, at the beginning of the 1970s a breeder from Hong Kong, Matgo-Law, sent a number of Shar Peis to the United States and there began the process of recovering the breed, which is considered to be the rarest in the world. Read more . . .