Search results
People also ask
Why is domestication important?
Is animal domestication a good thing?
Is domestication a process?
How does domestication affect human life?
Sep 27, 2023 · Domesticating animals has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it provides us with food, labor, and companionship. On the other hand, it can lead to overpopulation, disease spread, and animal mistreatment.
It's important to keep in mind that not everyone believes animal domestication is a good thing. The cofounder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Ingrid Newkirk, has famously voiced her opposition to human interference in animal lives.
- Jane Mcgrath
May 11, 2020 · We can’t expect something like this to happen with all species, but as a long-term benefit from domestication, it is fascinating. Animals that were used to assist in killing other animals have now become our best friends. People often used domestication to try and promote certain traits in animals.
- Overview
- The domestication process
- Domestic vs. tame
Domestic animals such as dogs, cats, and cattle have been genetically adapted over generations to live alongside humans.
Domesticated animals are animals that have been selectively bred and genetically adapted over generations to live alongside humans. They are genetically distinct from their wild ancestors or cousins.
Animal domestication falls into three main groupings: domestication for companionship (dogs and cats), animals farmed for food (sheep, cows, pigs, turkeys, etc.), and working or draft animals (horses, donkeys, camels).
Animals that make good candidates for domestication typically share certain traits:
Domestication happens through selective breeding. Individuals that exhibit desirable traits are selected to be bred, and these desirable traits are then passed along to future generations.
Wolves were the first animal to be domesticated, sometime between 33,000 and 11,000 years ago. After domesticated dogs came the domestication of livestock animals, which coincided with a widespread shift from foraging to farming among many cultures.
Because most major acts of domestication began before recorded history, we don’t know much about the exact process behind the generations-long journey from wild animal to domesticated pet or livestock. What is clear is that the ancestors of domesticated animals must have already exhibited traits that made them somehow useful to humans—traits that may have ranged from tasty meat to warm coats to a natural affinity for people.
3:14
A History of Dogs 101
A 2017 study found evidence that early dog-like wolves were indeed genetically disposed to be friendly. That friendliness may have triggered the first mutually beneficial relationships between humans and dogs, in which people gave dogs food or shelter in exchange for the animals’ service as guards or hunting companions. Other genetic evidence has been discovered to support a similar “self-domestication” theory for cats.
Domestication is not the same as taming. A domestic animal is genetically determined to be tolerant of humans. An individual wild animal, or wild animal born in captivity, may be tamed—their behavior can be conditioned so they grow accustomed to living alongside humans—but they are not truly domesticated and remain genetically wild.
Captive Asian elephants, for example, are often misinterpreted as domesticated, because they have been kept by humans for thousands of years. However, the majority have historically been captured from the wild and tamed for use by humans. Although then can breed in captivity, like big cats and other wild animals, they are not selectively bred, largely because of their long reproductive cycle. For this reason, there are no domesticated breeds of Asian elephants: They remain wild animals.
- 3 min
Jul 17, 2023 · Domestication is a process, says Sarah Crowley. She studies the relationship between humans and animals at the University of Exeter in England. And it’s a process that many familiar animals have undergone. These include dogs, of course, as well as cats, sheep, cattle, pigs and goats.
Sep 30, 2018 · It is known that domestication of animals had a greater effect in Europe and Asia than the Americas due to the animals native to those parts of the world. For example, Europe had goats, sheep, and cattle that could be domesticated and allow for more permanent settlements with a reliable food source.
Jul 24, 2017 · By Bethany Brookshire. July 24, 2017 at 5:50 am. Domestication (noun, “Doh-MESS-tih-CAY-shun”, verb, “domesticate”) This is the process of taking a wild organism and taming it or otherwise making it useful to people. An animal can be domesticated to be a pet — such as a dog or hamster — or to provide food or work, like with a cow, horse or chicken.
