I’ve been looking around for this (not very hard) for a while now, and happened across it today once again in a book about werewolves I was perusing. It’s the theory that homo sapiens interactions with wolves are what gave them competitive advantage over other hominids, including neanderthals. I’ve also seen someplace else that supposedly homo sapiens mimicked the social organizations of wolf packs, and learned other behavioral strategies from them. I’ll look around more, but the reference comes from a book called “Evolving Brains” by John Allman. Here’s an excerpt from a review:

Allman suggests that the ancestors of modern humans may have gained a competitive advantage over their Neandertal cousins by domesticating wolves. The social system of wolf packs may have been sufficiently similar to that of our ancestors to allow wolves’ cooperation in human hunting and surveillance. Perhaps it was not just tools but also such social skills that made it possible for our ancestors to radiate throughout the world.