ANIMAL WELFARE

ELISTA Education 2011

Evolution, Domestication, Natural Selection & Selective Breeding

Why, when studying Animal Welfare should we look at Evolution & Domestication?

Knowing where they have come from helps us to know what they need (evolution) but we must not forget that they have adapted through the domestication process.

Evolution= “gradual development” (oxforddictionaries.com)

Animals have developed gradually over time through two main processes

Convergent Evolution

Divergent

Wings

Pentadactyl Limb

Example: Evolution of The Dog

Creodonts (100-50mya)Creodonts (100-50mya)

Miacis (54-38 mya)Miacis (54-38 mya)

Hesperocyon (38-26)Hesperocyon (38-26)

Cyodicitis (19 mya)Cyodicitis (19 mya)

Tomarctus (12 mya)Tomarctus (12 mya)

Canidae (2 mya)Canidae (2 mya)

Example: Evolution of The Dog

Taxonomy

“The classification of

organisms in an ordered

system that indicates

natural relationships.”

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Mammalia

Order:Carnivora

Family:Canidae

Genus:Canis

Species:C.lupus

Subspecies: C.lupus familiaris

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/taxonomy

Added 1993

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Mammalia

Order:Carnivora

Family:Canidae

Genus:Canis

Species:C.lupus

Subspecies: C.lupus

familiaris

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Mammalia

Order:Carnivora

Family:Canidae

Genus:Canis

Species:C.aureus

(golden jackal)

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Mammalia

Order:Carnivora

Family:Canidae

Genus:Vulpes

Species:vulpes

(red fox)

                                

Evolution occurs due to Natural Selection…a process termed by Darwin Natural Selection-the ability of an animal to possess

characteristics which make it the most adapted (well suited) for its environment. In being well suited for its environment it means it is more

likely to survive and go on to breed and reproduce (often referred to a

Survival of the Fittest)

Example of Natural Selection = peppered moth

1840’s www.clcoc.org/presentations/peppered/peppered4

Animals change to best suit their environment- we can become the environment…this happens during and after domestication

Domestication

Domestication= “the process of enfolding a species into human society and taking responsibility for it’s husbandry and control over it’s breeding” (J.Clutton-Brock)

Example: Domestication of Dog

Theory one:

Domestication of the Dog

Theory 2:

Key points to remember…when

using animals ancestry to evaluate welfare (dogs)

Once were solitary, more recently social Hunters, but also scavengers Adapted (to feel non-threatened by humans)

Weaker/less effective predators most likely self-domesticated through natural selection

Domestication started over 10 thousand years ago.

How did the breeds develop?

N. American Chinese IndianEuropean

Eskimo Prehistoric Chow Dingo Pharoh Greyhound Mastiff Shepherd Spitz Terriers

Borzoi Saluki Afghan Deerhound Gundogs Maltese

Toy Pekin Bulldogs Pug Newfie St. Ber Gt. Dane BloodSpaniels

Spaniels hound

Through breeding like with like both due to region and traits.

Domestic Evolution of the Early Dog how the breed groups developed

Guarding = working dogs

people started keeping stock Food Sourceherding =pastoral (humans got sense!)

companion= toy + utility

Hunting human hunting methods developed

treking retrieving chasing+capturing

hounds gundogs hounds+ terriers

Domestication vs TamingTaming= “changed from a wild to a domesticated state: said as of

animals trained for use by humans or as pets”

Taming really relates to individual wild animals being habituated and trained to exist within a domestic environment. This is alternative to a domesticated specie that over a long period of time has come to be dependant on people.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/taming

Selective Breeding(changing and developing breeds-selecting traits)

Overview…

Wild Animal species evolving to suit environment

Process of Domestication

Selective Breeding

Taming

Lots of different breeds

Specie= genetically different, breeds genetically same*