In recent years, the idea that human development has been modified, altered, and partially directed by the different cultural changes and transformations that have originated throughout human populations' chronicles seems to gain weight. Thus, these cultural processes are a direct cause and have an obvious impact on the development of the history of human evolution.
One of the most significant cultural renovations in our annals happened more than 10,000 years ago when a characteristic hunter-gatherer society evolved into new human communities, which decided to start producing their own food. For this, this emerging society was in charge, for the first time, to carry out the domestication of species, both animals and plants. Domestication was a circumstance that arose spontaneously in various population centers, and that was later imposed as a new way of life by some unprecedented farmers and ranchers; a discovery that, in addition, had a series of important consequences in the way of life of human populations.
In this article, we will focus on the historical significance of animal domestication, its origin, and the different phases of the domestication process. We will also mention some general characteristics and ideas about domestic animals.
How do you define a domestic animal?
Domestic animals belong to species, or populations of species, that do not exist as wild forms but are kept by humans for their exploitation, and whose life cycle takes place entirely in captivity. Therefore, they are animals that cannot survive in the wild while maintaining their phenotypic characteristics.
In another sense, the existence of semi-domestic or tamed animals is also considered, which are exploited by the human species and can also be kept captive, but that do not meet some of the previous conditions. Some falconry birds, for example, would belong to this group of animals, like the ostriches that today are kept on farms for various purposes, or Asian elephants, whose young are captured, tamed, and domesticated for later exploitation. In fact, it is likely that these cases can be interpreted as early stages of the domestication process.
The origin of animal domestication
Animal domestication is associated with an increase in the size of the human population, and it seems that it arose independently in different regions (multiple origins). Also, it is likely that it was linked to a time of marked climatic seasonality, which caused some instability in the environment (represented by dry and hot summers and cold winters) and forced the population to seek new, much more efficient modes. , to exploit resources.
Thus, during these unfavorable climatic periods and, above all, in areas of low productivity (areas of extreme conditions), it was more profitable to house, care for and raise animals than to hunt them directly, an action that also entailed enormous physical wear and tear.
o domesticate some animals and not others?
Prior to domestication, the different hypotheses tell us about the possibility of certain candidates emerging that meet a series of requirements and that help to achieve different objectives. For this reason, it seems that in the first place those animals were chosen that, in addition to being used as a source of food, could also serve as a mechanical force to achieve greater performance in obtaining vegetable food; that is to say, animals that will be used as effective tools in agriculture. Thus, the first candidates were represented by land mammals weighing more than 45 kilos.
A second requirement that the candidates had to fulfill is that they must be herbivorous or omnivorous animals, animals that once domesticated could be fed with great ease by means of plant sustenance (or of another type in the case of omnivorous animals), a type of food easy to get or produce by humans (unlike foods of animal origin, historically more complicated to acquire and with which carnivorous animals should have been fed).
Physical and ethological characteristics of domestic animals
As we have just seen, domestication involves a selection process, so that domestic animals will have a series of common characteristics in response to human needs and preferences. These traits appear as a result of selection with respect to the agriotype, that is, with respect to the population of the species with genotype and phenotype not manipulated by man, living in the wild and from which domesticated populations derive.
In other words, the agriotype is the wild form of the domesticated animal. In general, it should be noted that domestic forms have an external appearance and body proportions altered with respect to their agriotype. This can be seen, for example, in a frequent reduction in body size, in proportionally short horns or limbs (reduced defense capacity), or in a decrease in flight capacity in flying species (as in the case of the chicken). In addition, some internal characters are equally more variable in wild forms, such as the skeleton or the dentition.
A reduction in body size, or decreased defense capacity, are usually characteristic features of domestic animals. By Patryk Sobczak
A reduction in body size, or decreased defense capacity, are usually characteristic features of domestic animals. By Patryk Sobczak
On the other hand, the behavior of domestic animals is also certainly altered; they are usually more tame and manageable than normal and with comparatively early maturation. In addition, they have frequent ethological traits that could facilitate domestication: they are more tolerant of humans, allowing them a dominant role, and more sociable with other individuals (and therefore more compatible with group life). Finally, the domestic forms present greater rusticity, that is, greater tolerance to changes in the environment and food.
The stages of the animal domestication process
The domestication process comprises a series of phases that can be seen regularly. In the first place, it is important to mention that a stage of peaceful tolerance between the animal and the human being must intervene in this process, a stage that allows some kind of close relationship and that even allows a beneficial association for both (benefits in terms of power, protection, etc.).
After this link, it is easier for a confinement situation to occur, with which it is deliberately intended to keep the animal in a controlled space, and thus proceed to its subsequent taming: that is, by means of controlled breeding, a selection of tolerant specimens
General consequences of animal domestication
The establishment of domestication as a new way of exploiting the environment had a series of important consequences on the way of life and the structure of human populations. And it is that, while the old hunters and gatherers had conserved their nomadic habits, the new society of farmers and ranchers opted for a considerably more sedentary life, a circumstance that favored, on the one hand, the increase in population size and, on the other, a reduction of physical activity and energy-saving by avoiding long trips and long hunting days.
In addition, most of the population was involved in the production of new foods, foods that provided a softer diet rich in carbohydrates and plant proteins. In this way, the diet took on special importance, since in the end, any diet has consequences on the health, size, and structure of a population.
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