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In order to be considered fully domesticated, most species have undergone significant genetic, behavioural and morphological changes from their wild ancestors, while others have changed very little from their wild ancestors despite hundreds or thousands of years of potential selective breeding.
- 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.
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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.
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Apr 3, 2024 · Goats were probably the first animals to be domesticated, followed closely by sheep ( Ovis aries ). In Southeast Asia, chickens (Gallus domesticus) also were domesticated about 10,000 years ago. Later, people began domesticating larger animals, such as oxen ( Bos taurus) or horses ( Equus ferus caballus ), for plowing and transportation.
Apr 25, 2017 · Animals Who Have Been Domesticated Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are considered the first animals to be domesticated in history. Domestication is believed to have first occurred around 13,000 BCE.
Rankanimal NameDate Of Domestication1Dog13000 BCE2Goat10000 BCE3Domestic Pig9000 BCE4Sheep9000 BCE- Joyce Chepkemoi
Jan 27, 2019 · All of the animals that we share our lives with today, such as dogs, cats, cattle, sheep, camels, geese, horses, and pigs, started out as wild animals but were changed over the hundreds and thousands of years into more sweet-natured and tractable partners in farming.
Jul 22, 2022 · This timeline highlights the domestication period of 15 different animals, based on archeological findings. Because exact timing is tricky to pinpoint and research on the topic is ongoing, these estimates may vary by thousands of years.
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May 10, 2024 · The first attempts at domestication of animals and plants apparently were made in the Old World during the Mesolithic Period. Dogs were first domesticated in Central Asia by at least 15,000 years ago by people who engaged in hunting and gathering wild edible plants.
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