0
0
Nearly 40,000 years ago, mankind has the best idea to date: changing the apex predators of age be sociable and loyal ally. Despite the massive ancient man very chaotic for a few thousand the first year of the process, the results are nothing short of revolutionary. Praktek domestication contributed to the world our modern, without which we would not have a dog or a cat or livestock – or even agriculture in this regard. In his latest book, our oldest friends: the story of the first dog, anthropologist and American association for the advancement of Science Fellow, Pat Shipman, explores the early days of domestication and how to make a dog from a wolf to fundamentally change the course of human history.
Quoted from our oldest friends: the first dog story by Pat Shipman, published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Copyright © 2021 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Used by permission. All copyrights.
To answer the question of whether the dog first evolved in Asia or Europe, we need to go back and create a good working definition of domestication.
“Domestication” has a very specific meaning. The term comes from the Latin for “occupancy” or “home”: Domus. In the broadest sense, domestication is the rendering of animals or plants that are suitable for or accept living in domus, as a member, and to live intimately with the family.
Even in this general sense, meaning the right domestication is difficult to understand. Is domesticated plants? Of course some of them talked about as tame as it requires care and cultivation deliberate, and sometimes fertilization, human and, instead, has been genetically modified through human selection that is considered desirable. I’m not talking about genetic engineering change process that is relatively new on the plant; This modification products, such as soy, everyday known as GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The selection has been done for thousands of years by the hunters, gatherers, invaders, gardeners, farmers and breeders of the species through the old-fashioned way, not in a laboratory. If you want, for example, violet with white lines, what do you do? You try to keep the seeds that show white lines and draw that did not, until you always striped (if you ever do).
We can understand the general principle of selecting or choosing the most desirable plants – those that produce the most food in certain circumstances, for example – but the practice of selection is rather paradoxical. Individual plants that produce fruits or seeds are rich or tubers are you most want to eat – and that is that you should be saving for the next planting season. Which is the most practical strategy? Why do people start saving the best seeds? This is a puzzle awkward. When the late Brian Hesse wisely observed in his study of early domestication, people were short of food, and even starving, do not save on food for the next season or next year. They are just trying to live until next week.
The habit of saving seeds for another day inevitably arise in periods of relatively good, when food is plentiful to keep most of the distant future. This implies that the motivation for the domestication is not to ensure a stable food supply for the early process of domestication only makes sense if you already have enough food. Domestication of plants seems to be about increasing the plant species in the long term. But you really do not care if the plants are happy to see you or play well with children.
