In this chapter we will start with the question: how and when did the domestication of animals start?
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Definitions Domestication is the process in which animal populations adapt to mankind and its environment. It is a form of mutualism involving a parallel evolution in genome and culture. |
Domestic animals need to live in (close) association with humans, therefore they have to become tame. They also have to meet the expectations of their owners for the purpose of keeping them. This can be achieved by selective breeding. Expectations of owners will change in time, followed by a change in their selective breeding plan. Domestication often has resulted in a type of animals that has become quite different from their wild ancestors. As a result domestication often also involves the development of a full dependency on humans and the animals lose their ability to live in the wild.
1.3.1 Domestication of the dog
The first animal species to be domesticated was the dog. Estimates of when this happened vary a lot, but it was approximately between 16,000 – 30,000 years ago. An appealing theory is that when people started to settle down and became farmers, they also started to accumulate waste. The tamer than average wolves were brave enough to eat from that waste and thus had a secure source of food. This was an advantage, so natural selection pressure was on being not very afraid of humans. Eventually, a kind of symbiotic relationship developed, where these ancestors of the dog started to perform ‘tasks’ like warning the humans for approaching danger or helping in hunting. In return these animals would receive food security. This type of symbiotic relationship is still present in village dog populations in Africa and Asia, and also in some Southern European countries. It is believed that our current domestic dog breeds originate from these village dogs. There is evidence that genetically the village dogs are in between the wolves and the dogs.
1.3.2 Domestication of other species
The symbiotic relationship, such as between human and the ancestors of the dog, most likely is quite unique for dogs. Other types of animals may have been domesticated more forcefully. They were captured and put in an enclosure or tied up, at least during the night, and were only allowed out to graze or scavenge under supervision of a herdsman. Only those animals that were not aggressive, but also not too shy, managed to adapt to these new circumstances. So (mainly natural) selective breeding also in these cases was on temperament. In the table you will find a list of domestic animals with their ancestors and the approximate time and location of domestication. This is approximate, because especially for ancient times it is difficult to make an accurate estimate.
Table 1. List of domesticated animals in early times
...
Species
...
Ancestor
...
Area
...
Time
(years ago)
...
dog
...
grey wolf
...
Eurasia
...
~30000*
...
cattle, taurine
...
aurochs
...
West Asia
E. Africa
...
10000-8000
7500-6500
...
pig
...
wild boar
...
West Asia
East Asia
...
10000-9000
8500-6000
...
sheep
...
Asian mouflon
...
West Asia
...
10000-8000
...
goat
...
bezoar
...
West Asia
...
10000-8000
...
cattle, zebu
...
aurochs
...
South Asia
...
8000-6250
...
llama
...
guanaco
...
Andes
...
6000-4000
...
horse
...
forest horse
...
Central Asia
...
5500-4000
...
donkey
...
Numibian wild ass
...
North-East Africa
...
5500-3500
...
alpaca
...
vicuña
...
Andes
...
5000-3000
...
domestic silkmoth
...
wild silkmoth
...
East Asia
...
5000
...
guinea pig
...
Montane guinea pig
...
Andes
...
5000-4000
...
western honey bee
...
western honey bee
...
Mediterranean basin,
East Asia
...
4500
2000
...
water buffalo (river type)
...
wild water buffalo
...
South Asia
...
4500
...
yak
...
wild yak
...
Central Asia
...
4500
...
domestic bactrian camel
...
wild bactrian camel
...
Central Asia
...
4500
...
chicken
...
red junglefowl
...
4000**
...
cat
...
African wildcat
...
West Asia
...
4000
...
domestic pigeon
...
rock pigeon
...
Mediterranean basin
...
3000
...
domestic dromedary camel
...
Wild dromedary
camel
...
Arabia
...
3000
...
duck
...
mallard duck
...
East Asia
Europe
...
2500
1000
...
domestic goose
...
greylag goose
swan goose
...
Europe
East Asia
...
2500
2500
...
domestic turkey
...
wild turkey
...
North America
...
2000
...
domestic guinea fowl
...
helmeted guinea fowl
...
Africa
...
1500
...
reindeer
...
reindeer
...
North Eurasia
...
1500-500
...
domestic rabbit
...
European rabbit
...
Europe
...
750
...
** Domestication of dogs before 16 000 years ago is contested
*** Domestication ~8000 years ago has been suggested.
Source: Miika Tapio and Saber Quanbary, 2017. Genomic diversity in the domestication process. Chapter 3 in Genomic management of animal genetic diversity. Wageningen Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. ISBN: 978-90-8686-297-9.
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