Domestication of Animals

Lecture 1
Animal domestication
‫استئناس الحيوان‬
Domesticate: to adapt the behavior of
Introduction
•
an animal to fit the needs of people
• ‫نسان‬%‫حتياجات ا‬% ‫جعل سلوك الحيوان مناسب‬

Domestication of Animals Domestication of Animals

• Domestication of animals began when • These animals were bred in captivity

humans had contact with wild animals long
ago
• Later humans picked animals with
desirable traits to use for breeding
• Humans then started to confine ‫حبس‬wild
animals to ensure a supply of food and
• When man started to domesticate animals
clothing he began a more settled way of life
 Domestication of Animals
• With a more consistent food supply came a
higher population, therefore, the labor was
divided amongst the tribe ‫قبيلة‬
• Some historians believe without the
domestication of animals the human race may
have never become civilized
Domestication
• Reasons for domestication:
• Help with various types of work
• Produce food or valuable commodities
(such as wool, cotton, or silk)
• Enjoy as pets or ornamental plants
Domestication
• What happened during domestication?
• A wild biological organism is habituated to survive in
the company of, or by the labor of human beings
• Altered behavior, life cycle, or physiology of the
animals/plants
• As result of their breeding and living conditions
• Under careful human control for multiple generations
Domesticated Plants
• Ornamental Plants (house plants)
• Plants domesticated primarily for aesthetic
‫ الجمال‬enjoyment in and around the home
• Crops
• Plants domesticated for large-scale food
production
 Domesticated animals Process of Domestication

• Pets • Natural selection

• Home companionship
• Livestock or farm animals
• Food production
• Mutations
• Outside of human control
• ex. domestication of wheat

Process of Domestication Domestication of animals

• Selective breeding • According to physiologist Jared Diamond:

• Controlled by humans • Animal species must meet six criteria ‫معايير‬in
• Best explain domestication order to be considered for domestication
• Ex. the silver foxes, Russian experiment
 Domestication of animals
• A- Flexible diet
• Ability to consume a wide variety of food
sources
• Can live off less cumulative food from the food
pyramid
• Eat corn or wheat
• Food that is not utilized by humans
Can live off less cumulative food from the food pyramid
Eat corn or wheat
Food that is not utilized by humans
Ability to consume a wide variety of food sources
Domestication of animals
• B- Fast growth rate
• Fast maturity rate compared to the human life
span allows breeding intervention ‫تدخل‬and make
the animal useful within an acceptable duration of
caretaking ‫رعاية‬
• Large animals such as elephants require many
years before they reach a useful size
Domestication of animals
• A- Flexible diet
• Less expensive to keep in captivity
• Eat grass and forages
• Most carnivores can only be fed meat
• Requires the expenditure of other animals
• But they can utilize other type of meat that is
not consumed by human
carnivores
Domestication of animals
• C- Ability to breed in captivity
• Creatures that are reluctant to breed when kept in
captivity do not produce useful offspring
• Limited to capture in their wild state
• The panda and cheetah are difficult to breed in
captivity
cheetah
 Domestication of animals Domestication of animals

• D- Pleasant disposition ‫التصرف‬ • E- Temperament ‫ طبع‬which makes it unlikely

to panic ‫ذعر‬
‫اللطيف‬
• A creature with a nervous disposition is difficult
• Large creatures that are aggressive ‫شرس او عدواني‬ to keep in captivity as they will attempt to flee
toward humans are dangerous to keep in ‫يهرب‬whenever they are startled
captivity
• The gazelle is very flighty and it has a powerful
• The African buffalo has an unpredictable nature leap that allows it to escape an enclosed pen
and is highly dangerous to humans
African
buffalo Gazelle

Domestication of animals Domestication of animals

• F- Modifiable social hierarchy (order)

• ‫تعديل الترتيب ا'جتماعي‬ • A herding instinct
• Social creatures that recognize a hierarchy of • Arguably ‫ يمكن القول‬aids ‫ يساعد‬in domesticating animals:
dominance can be raised to recognize a human as its tame ‫ ترويض‬one and others will follow, regardless of
pack leader chiefdom

Herd
 Degrees of domestication Degrees of domestication

• Wild: These species experience their full life • Raised at zoos, botanical gardens or human
cycles without human deliberate ‫متعمد‬ gain
intervention • These species are nurtured and sometimes but
not bred under human control (except for Zoo)

• Indistinguishable in appearance or behavior from

their wild counterparts

Degrees of domestication

• Raised commercially (captive or semi

Ranch
domesticated) Farm
• These species are ranched or farmed in large
numbers for food, commodities, or the pet trade
• As a group they are not substantially altered in
appearance or behavior
• Examples include the ostrich ‫ النعام‬, deer ‫ الغزال‬,
alligator ‫تمساح‬
• Partially domesticated
Ostrich Deer Alligator
 Degrees of domestication

• Domesticated
• They are bred and raised under human control for
many generations Sheep Goat

• They are substantially altered as a group in

appearance or behavior
• Examples include the dog, sheep, cattle , chicken,
guinea pig and laboratory mice

Guinea pig
Cattle

Degrees of domestication Degrees of domestication

• A great difference exists between a tame • A great difference exists between a tame
animal and a domesticated animal animal and a domesticated animal

• The term "domesticated" refers to an entire species • Humans have tamed many thousands of animals that
have never been truly domesticated
• Term "tame" can refer to just one individual within a
species
 Approximate dates and locations of first domestication
Location Date Species

History Asia
Middle East
10000 BC to 150000 BC
8000 BC
Dog
Sheep
Middle East 8000 BC Goat
China 8000 BC Pig
Middle East 6000 BC Cow

• Dogs and sheep were Ukraine 4000 BC Horse

Egypt 4000 BC Donkey
among the first animals China 4000 BC Water buffalo

to be domesticated Southern Asia 4000 BC Honeybee

Southeast Asia ? 3500 BC Chicken
Egypt or Cyprus 3500 BC to 7500 BC Cat
Peru 3500 BC Llama
China 3000 BC Silkworm
Central Asia 2500 BC Bactrian camel
Arabia 2500 BC Dromedary (Arabian camel)
Mexico 100 Turkey
Peru 900 Guinea pig
Europe 1500 Rabbit
Europe 1800s Fox
Europe 1800s Mink
United States 1930s Hamster

Limits of domestication Limits of domestication

• Few crops and even fewer animals ever • Domesticated species face many problems
became domesticated • Diseases
• The process continues with plants (berry fruits, for • Genetic problems
example)
• It appears to have ceased with animals
 Limits of domestication

• One side-effect of domestication has been

disease
• For example, cattle have given humanity various
viral poxes, measles, and tuberculosis; pigs gave
influenza; and horses the rhinoviruses
Thank You!
Questions?
• Humans share over sixty diseases with dogs
• Many parasites also have their origins in
domestic animals