Have you ever wondered while watching one yorkshire with a hair clip on his head, how many steps did it take to go from a 60 kilo wolf with sharp fangs to this little 3 kilo creature with cute tails…
Human domestication of dogs is the oldest of all. Why and under what circumstances Sapien Did he get so close to the wolf that he turned this predator into a faithful and obedient companion, “Man’s best friend”?
Subsequently, many other species followed: cats, hamsters, chickens, rabbits… What paths have these animals taken to find a place in our living rooms and gardens? What did their wild ancestors look like? Why have we domesticated certain species over others to make them our pets?
These are the questions we will focus on today with Valérie Chansigaud signing “The History of Animal Domestication” published by Delachaux and Niestlé.
This science and environmental historian takes us on a great journey through space and time in the footsteps of the ancestors of dogs, cats and some of our other pets.
Domestication: a long-term process
Valérie Chansigaud defines it as a selection phenomenon which carries both a dimension conscious And hereditary. The transformations we make by selecting individuals and making them reproduce together become heritable. By selecting animals, we act on their genes, and this is how this phenomenon differs from, for example, training or domestication. It is not enough just to accustom animals to human contact, it goes further!
By thus selecting individuals with the most docile characteristics, man deliberately changes the parameters of aggressiveness, fear, sociability and space for animal species. Ultimatethis process has the consequences of reducing their wild capacities so that they adapt to the lifestyle of the human species. It is therefore above all a matter of transforming animals to meet human needs.
In the 19th century, Charles Darwin identified “animal domestication syndrome” by demonstrating that domesticated species, animals or plants, have common characteristics such as a lower mass, a flatter snout, juvenile behavior, etc. These behavioral, physiological and morphological traits are otherwise absent in their wild ancestors.
Small boats
From the gray wolf to the chihuahua: the first domestication
It appears that the wolf came closer to humans because the animals found an interest in exploiting the hunting remnants of these hunter-gatherer populations. Many hypotheses have been put forward and the wolf could also have had a role as a “stalker” to warn of the presence of game.
The dog’s status varies considerably depending on the roles they are assigned. More and more dogs that were once pure hunting or herding dogs, for example, are also becoming companion dogs.
And today, far from being the majority in our living rooms, 3/4 of the dogs on the planet are stray dogs! “We have domesticated a species, it has lost survival skills and there they are no longer able to survive outside homes, unable to hunt properly and form a herd”
Is the cat really a pet?
The cat is one Riddle in many ways and questions the very notion of domestication. It is still difficult to determine its classification because its morphology in the wild differs little from that in the domestic state, and hybridizations and crosses are numerous. Based on the fact that, unlike the dog, it has retained all its abilities to hunt and feed, some researchers even consider that the cat is not a tame species, or at least that it is still at work.
To understand the domestication of the cat, we must first understand the place of the mouse. From the moment humanity became agricultural, the transformation of landscapes and the accumulation of seed reserves provided an enormous opportunity for mice to reproduce. Man therefore quite naturally favored predators, especially the cat, because it made it possible to regulate these mouse populations. This also explains that the cat has perfectly preserved its hunting instinct, although today it shows characteristics of a domestic animal, including a great ability to play.
To find out more, listen to the show…
Music programming
- THE CURE – Lovecats
- CATHERINE – Under my bob
- LEYLA MCCALLA – Sun without heat
The earth squared
53 min
