When people domesticate animals, they control their behavior in many ways. For example, animals that are being domesticated no longer choose their own mates. 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MoreinHorse Share Collect Peoplehavedomesticateddozensofanimals,fromhorsestohoneybees.Manyofthesecreaturesbelongtothesamespeciesastheirclosestwildrelativesandhaveessentiallythesamegeneticmakeup.Yettheylookandactinwaysthatarequitedistinct.Howdoesithappen?Whenpeopledomesticateanimals,theycontroltheirbehaviorinmanyways.Forexample,animalsthatarebeingdomesticatednolongerchoosetheirownmates.Instead,peoplecontroltheirbreeding.Individualswithtraitsthathumanspreferaremorelikelytoproduceoffspringandpassontheirgenes.Inthecourseofseveralgenerations,boththebodyandbehavioroftheanimalaretransformed.LookingthePart Whenanimalsaredomesticated,theirbodieschange.Manyspeciesbecomesmallerthantheirwildancestors.Some,includingdogsandpigs,tendtohaveshortersnouts,floppierears,andcurliertails.Whitemarkingsmayshowupontheface,chest,orlegs.Studiesshowthesephysicaltraitsmaybegeneticallylinkedtothegentlebehaviorpeopletendtoseekintheirlivestockandpets. Horse. M.Greibler/PeterArnold,Inc. HappyTogether Mostdomesticanimalsarenaturallysocial.Theirwildancestorslivedingroups,withindividualsrespondingtoeachother--someled,othersfollowed.Indomesticanimals,thetendencytosubmittoothersisespeciallystrong.Generationsofbreedinghaveencouragedthemtoletpeopletakethelead.EvolvingAmongHumans Inthewild,animalsthatarewelladaptedtotheirenvironmentlivelongandreproduce,whileothersdieyoung.Inthisway,nature"chooses"thetraitsthatarepassedontothenextgeneration.BiologistCharlesDarwincalledthisprocessevolutionbynaturalselection.Domesticanimalsalsoevolve,butpeopledotheselecting.Humansseekoutqualitiesliketameness,andhelpanimalswiththosetraitssurviveandbearyoung.Darwincalledthisevolutionbyartificialselection. Wolf,dog,boar,andpigskullsondisplay. DenisFinnin/AMNH WildorDomestic? Whenanimalsaredomesticated,thechangecanoftenbeseeninthebones.Indogsandpigs,forexample,themuzzlebecomesshorterinrelationtotherestoftheskull.Bycontrast,earlydomestichorseboneslookverymuchlikewildones.Soarchaeologistsstudyinghorseremainsmustuseothercluestotellwhethertheyaredomesticorwild. Close Whatareyoulookingfor? Close