Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World in Science and Inquiry

Sep 05, 2022 Petra X is currently reading it

Update White animals are rare in nature (outside snow environments) but are a feature of domesticated animals. White rabbits, cats, dogs, sheep, horses, none of these, apart from albinos, have white in the wild form. Interesting feature of breeding for other characteristics.
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Some very, very good reasons not to buy a pedigree dogs: they die young.

Virtually all purebred dogs have a host of genetic ailments, from narcolepsy to skeletal defects. Cancer is also rampant among purebred dogs,

Update White animals are rare in nature (outside snow environments) but are a feature of domesticated animals. White rabbits, cats, dogs, sheep, horses, none of these, apart from albinos, have white in the wild form. Interesting feature of breeding for other characteristics.
__________

Some very, very good reasons not to buy a pedigree dogs: they die young.

Virtually all purebred dogs have a host of genetic ailments, from narcolepsy to skeletal defects. Cancer is also rampant among purebred dogs, occurring at frequencies that in humans would be considered epidemic. Any account of a breed’s characteristics includes the defects, including the particular form of cancer, to which it is prone. This is why purebred dogs have much shorter life spans than outbred dogs (mutts and mongrels) living under the same conditions.

What do you want a dog for, it's beautiful looks or a loving companion? Too many people want the beautiful animal with the a guaranteed temperament. More people should be willing to take a chance and get a dog or puppy that needs a home. They will be your companion for many more years.

This was interesting,

This genetic burden may also help explain why dog breeds are exceptions to what is otherwise the rule among mammals: larger species live longer than smaller species. Elephants live longer than cats, which live longer than mice, and so on. Among dogs, however, large breeds die younger.87 Irish wolfhounds, Great Danes, and Newfoundlands live only 6–8 years; dogs in the 50-pound range generally live 10–12 years; some toy breeds live 15–20 years.

The book is in part very heavy on the science and completely mystifies me, "The genetic changes resulting from both the Baldwin effect [the premise that phenotypic plasticity is the way for individuals to adapt to their environment within a generation in a novel environment] and genetic assimilation are facilitated by disruptive selection and the cryptic genetic variation it unveils."

What he means is something like how plants attempt and often succeed in adapting to whatever environment they find themselves in, also applies to animals. Or that's what I think he means. Let's move on now... ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, 2non-fiction, 1ebook

This was a fascinating read, but a bit over my head. It is not a popular science book & Francis uses a lot of words that he quickly defined & I had to look back for. Others I had to look up. I'm sure no biologist would have needed to, but I'm not one & would really have appreciated a glossary.

He broke out some digressions into an appendix for the chapter & some footnotes (listed at the back of the book) were worth reading. I really didn't see the need for most of the appendices, though. They wer ...more

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Jul 02, 2015 Daphne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, quest, wolves, own-audio

I've been waiting for this book to be released, and grabbed it the first day. I savored each chapter - one a day. The exploration of each type of domesticated animal (humans included) was very well done. It was smart to give each their own chapter. Just enough of the personal life/experience researching the book was added by Francis.

I must admit - I really, really disliked the narrator chosen. He has a quite annoying and nasally voice. It sounded like it was practically read by a computer.

Narrat ...more

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