Leon Krolikowski, age 10, of Stratford, Conn., for his question:

WHERE DID THE FIRST DOG COME FROM?

An animal called the tomarctus is probably the father of today's dogs. More than 15 million years ago this animal, which looked much like a wolf, lived here on earth.

The tomarctus had a wedge shaped head, thick coat, a long body and a long, furry tail. His descendants developed into wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other wild dogs which spread throughout the world.

In Europe between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, Stone Age people had tamed dogs living with them. The dogs were used to track game.

Ancient Egyptians more than 8,000 years ago raised dogs that looked much like greyhounds. Several thousand years later they developed the saluki hunting dogs. This is probably the world's oldest known breed.