1.3 Domestication and animal breeding (2024)
- Tessa Jacobs
- Kor Oldenbroek
In this chapter we will start with the question: how and when did the domestication of animals start?
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.
