Domestication Flashcards
What is domestication?
to adapt to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans
What does it mean for an animal to be wild?
living in a natural, undomesticated state
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Does being familiar with humans mean they aren’t wild?
No, it does not remove their wild nature
What is a feral animal?
Ancestors had been domesticated but now have reverted and live in a wild state
When an animal becomes feral, does that mean they are un-domesticated?
No
What is a tame animal?
an animal relatively tolerant of human presence
What is an introduced species?
a plant or animal that is not native to a specific location, and is believed to be beneficial to the environment, human economy and/or human health
What is an invasive species?
a plant or animal that is not native to a specific location; and has a tendency to spread, which is believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy and/or human health
What are the characteristics of a domesticated animals?
bred in captivity for human benefit, complete control of breeding/reproduction, control territory, control food supply
How do domesticated animals benefit humans?
food, companionship, or work
What does it mean for humans to have control of breeding of domesticated animals?
humans control breeding and therefore the traits of the animals
What does it mean for humans to control the territory of domesticated animals?
control where the animal lives
What does it mean for humans to control the food supply of domesticated animals?
control their nutrition and stabilizers of food economy
What was vital to the development of human civilization? How?
domestication; increase quantity of food available, decrease labor required, draft, development of market economies (bartering), primary factor in warfare
How many mammalian species are there?
5,488
How many bird species and sub species?
10,000 species; 22,000 sub species
How many domesticated species are there? Why?
15-20; domestication takes a long time, the animals already domesticated were more common in areas compared to others, not all animals benefit humans
What are the criteria for domestication?
diet, growth rate, breed in captivity, disposition, less likely to panic, size, social hierarchy
Why is diet a criteria of domestication?
it’s easier if they eat a variety of things
Why is growth rate a criteria of domestication?
want them to mature rapidly
Why is being able to be bred in captivity a criteria of domestication?
reproduction can be controlled, and thus traits can be controlled
Why is disposition a criteria of domestication?
strong nerves, have to have right temperament to humans
Why is being less likely to panic a criteria of domestication?
important to not panic in human presence
Why is size a criteria of domestication?
smaller animals are easier to handle, size is important for their use
Why is social hierarchy a criteria of domestication?
they have to understand that humans are the leaders
How are there so many differences within an animal species if they came from the same ancestors?
variation among genes is then bred, the environment, lose genes not needed over time (like how their brain decreases in size as they become domesticated)
When were dogs domesticated?
10,000-12,000 years ago
What animal were dogs domesticated from? From where?
Wolves (Arabian, Chinese, Indian, European)
What are the two theories of dog domestication? Which is most likely?
1-Humans domesticated wolves by picking them and taking them home and overtime breeding certain traits
2- Wolves domesticated themselves by approaching human hunter-gatherers for food
Theory 2 is most likely
What animal was the best at being domesticated? Why?
dogs; genomes
What are the stages of dog domesitcation?
1- self domestication 2- strict captivity (limit breeding) 3- intentional breeding 4- trait standardization 5- eliminate wild species (genes)
What does limiting breeding/strict captivity mean?
limit unintentional breeding, like what is done in the wild
What is intentional breeding?
breeding for specific traits, can use inbreeding
What is trait standardization?
fixing the genomes (such as black body dog x white face dog = black body white faced dog), inbreeding is used
What animals were used in the domestication study Who did it?
silver foxes; Dmitri Belyaev
What selection was made in the domestication study?
direct selection for “temperament”
What was the result of the domestication study?
they had shorter legs, dog hair coat, barking, wagging and curled tail, smaller teeth, shorter muzzle, play in adulthood, and have 2 estrous cycles
What is a estrous cycle?
the reproductive cycle
What was the first domesticated animal?
dog
What are some traits of domesticated dogs?
most diversified domesticated animal (phenotypically), the most tortured genetically, capable of reverting to a feral type
How are dog genes different?
some genes activated sooner, some remain activated longer, and some are never activated
How are dogs’ brain capacity different?
dogs with “jobs” retain a higher proportion of brain capacity (herding, working, bird), dog without “jobs” have proportionally smaller capacity
What are the magnificent 7?
first animals domesticated
What is the order of the magnificent 7?
dog, goat, sheep, cattle, pig, horse, cat (goat and sheep, and then cattle and pig happened around the same time)
Are the magnificent 7 more carnivores or herbivores? Why?
herbivores; they eat plants and are easier to keep fed then animals that eat other animals
What is the domestication process of herbavores?
shift from pure hunting to herd management, control movement of herds, selective removal of young males
Why does selective breeding of young males occur? For what does it occur?
alters sex ratio, alters age structure, breeding, isolation from wild type; herbivore domestication
Why were sheep and goats domesticated?
size, highly gregarious (easy to follow instruction and submit to leadership), wide utilization of feed resources, variety of useful products
What products do sheep and goats provide?
meat, milk, leather, fiber (wool and hair)
Sheep origins?
Mouflon in Eurasia
Goat origins?
Wild goats in Eurasia and Middle East
What does it mean that goats and sheep are highly specialized?
They were bred to create species that provide specific things (like sheep just for wool and sheep just for meat)
Cattle origin?
Eurasia
What the ancestor of cattle?
Auroch (giant wild ox)
Cattle products?
milk, meat, leather, draft
What impact did cattle have on social importance?
language development (alphabet, “stock market, bull market”
What impact did cattle have on source of wealth?
bartering, mobile food storage, development of US west
What impact did cattle have on sacred status?
Egyptian gods Hathor (cow) and Apis (bull), India
What other bovines besides cattle are domesticated?
Asian water buffalo, yaks
What products do Asian water buffalo provide?
work, meat, and milk; however they aren’t tolerant to heat and wallow in mud
What products do Yaks provide?
work, milk, meat, hides for warm clothing
Where are Yaks found?
high mountains of Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia (wild and domestic animals in same location)
Are swine herbivores or carnivores? What other animal is a pig stomach’s similar to?
omnivores (stomach is similar to humans)
Where do swine originate from? What kind?
Eurasia; European wild boar and East Indian pig
What were swine considered before they were domesticated?
pests; they were hunted for control as much as for food during early farming periods
What type of environment do domesticated pigs like? Why?
housing/pens; they aren’t a good herding animal
Why were swine domesticated?
prolificacy in suitable environment, value
What products do swine provide?
meat, lard, and leather
What environment are swine best suited to? Why?
tropical to temperate environments, they lack sweat glands
What does prolificacy mean?
ability to produce a lot of offspring
What two explorers spread the location of swine? What happened?
Columbus and Hernando De Soto; population grew and spread very quickly
Where do true wild horses still remain?
Ukraine and China, Zebra’s in Africa, Wild donkeys in Africa (feral in US), Mustang (feral in US), Przewalski Horse in Mongolia
What do horses and donkeys provide?
meat, milk, leather, warfare (key component to almost all wars), draft (second to cattle)
What are horses and donkeys currently used for?
draft and transportation, recreational riding is limited to only a few countries
What are the 4 types of Camelids?
Dromedary Camel, Llama, Bactrian Camel, Alpaca
What are dromedary camels used for?
milk, meat, leather, draft
What products do Llamas provide?
pack, meat, milk, leather
What are alpacas used for?
fiber, meat, milk, leather
What are Bactrian camels used for?
adapted to colder climates because of two humps (fat storage)
How were cats domesticated?
self-domestication
What kind of relationship do cats have with humans?
symbiotic, commensal, exploitive captives (biological term), and pet concept (affluent societies)
What is symbiotic relationship?
mutually beneficial relationship
What is a commensal relationship?
one benefits from the other, the other is unaffected
What does the term exploitive captives mean?
captives of humans, but exploiting this relationship to their own ends rather than suffering from it
Which of the magnificent 7 is the least domesticated?
cats
What animal did cats originate from?
European and African/Asian wildcat
What animal did chickens originate from?
Asian Jungle Fowl
What products do chickens provide?
meat, eggs, feathers
How were chickens domesticated?
humans, NOT self-domestication
How many chicken breeds are there?
around 400
Do wild turkeys still exist?
yes
