What most distinguishes domesticated animals from their wild ancestors are genetic alterations resulting in tameness, the capacity to tolerate close human proximity. In a human-constructed environment-or man-made world-it pays to be domesticated.ĭomestication is an evolutionary process first and foremost. Our domesticated species have also thrived, in stark contrast to their wild ancestors.
It is no accident that the cradle of civilization-the Middle East-is where sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and cats commenced their fatefully intimate association with humans.īefore the agricultural revolution, there were perhaps 10 million humans on earth. We would still be living at subsistence level as hunter-gatherers if not for domestication.
Without our domesticated plants and animals, human civilization as we know it would not exist.
0 kommentar(er)
