Domestication Flashcards
Definition of Domestication
The process by which a population of animals becomes adapted to humans and their captive environment by a combination of genetic changes over generations. 16 mammals domesticated and 11 birds domesticated.
Favourable Group Structure
Large social groupings
Hierarchal groupings
Males and females together
Favourable Sexual Behaviour
Promiscuous mating
Males dominate females
Sexual signals by movements
Favourable Parent and Young Interactions
Critical bonding period
Females accept other young
Precocial young
Favourable responses to young
Short flight distance
Low reactivity to humans of environmental changes
Other Favourable Behaviours
Omnivorous
Adaptable
Limited Agility
Physical Changes Due to Domestication
Size, shape, body proportions, colour, hair, horns
Reproductive Changes Due to Domestication
Earlier puberty, longer lactation, more young, loss of broodiness, loss of pair bonding
Loss of Self Preservation Dues to Domestication
Loss of defence, loss of alertness, slower and more cumbersome
Interactions with Humans due to Domestication
Smaller flight distance, tameness
How Changes in Domestication are Brought About
Inbreeding leads to less domestication variability, less vigor and fitness, more deleterious genes, more juvenile mortality.
Genetic drift which is natural and random.
Natural selection which is adaptive and always active.
Relaxed adaptation where a behaviour loses its adaptive significance.
Environmental Influences on Domestication Process
Biological environments including feeding and drinking, predation, disease and disease agents, interaction with humans, social environments and the physical environment including climate, shelter and space.
Results of Domestication
Changes in animal behaviour in response to specific features of the environment, artificial selection of animals most suited to the environment, retention of characteristics desired by humans and reduced responsiveness to changes in their environment.
