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Domestication and Human Evolution

The domestication of other species has played an undeniably central role in the evolution of modern humans, and in our planetary dominance and success. In view of this fact, researchers have over the years investigated the genetic underpinnings and the anatomical, neural, physiological and behavioral consequences of domestication across a number of animal species ? but largely independently of each other. Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. Specifically, it has been suggested that a number of the unique anatomical, neural, developmental, social, cognitive and communicative traits that define our species may be attributable to selection for lack of aggression and to a process of self-domestication. This symposium brings together researchers from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these concepts and to elucidate further the possible role of domestication in human evolution. (from carta.anthropogeny.org)

Fox Domestication and Genetics of Complex Behaviors. Anna Kukekova (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) discusses the genetics-centered view of domestication that was supported by the experimental selection of farm-bred foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at the Russian Institute of Cytology and Genetics back in the 1950s. The selection of foxes, some for tame and some for aggressive behavior, yielded two strains with markedly different, genetically determined, behavioral phenotypes. These fox strains have provided a rich resource for investigating the genetics of complex social behaviors.

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