10 Domestic Animals and Their Wild Ancestors, Gray wolf, Domestic dog, Bezoar, Domestic goat, Mouflon, Domestic sheep, Wild boar, Domestic pig, Wild horse, Domestic horse, Domestic cat, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
Domestic Animals
1. Gray wolf
Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are thought by most scientists to have bred the domestic dog, a key event in the evolution of our species that may have happened 32,000 years ago and certainly by 14,000 years ago. Scientists have, however, posited that dogs may be descended from an extinct wild ancestor that resembled contemporary pariah dogs and dingoes due to morphological differences between them and wolves. Early humans domesticated the dog, regardless of its origins.
2. Domestic dog
Over 400 domestic dog breeds are known today (Canis lupus familiaris), ranging from the wolfish, robust Siberian husky to the shrieking, guinea-pig adjacent Chihuahua. Dogs are being studied to determine their origins and to understand their unique, sympatric relationships with humans. If only someone could figure out why LOLCats are so much more popular than canine memes.
3. Bezoar
The second species of wild animal that humans selectively bred was the bezoar, or wild goat (Capra aegagrus). While the spry, wiry ungulates did not seem like ideal domestication candidates at first blush, their ability to convert sparse vegetation into hides, meat, and milk probably made the work worthwhile for early Fertile Crescent settlers. Consequently, generations of goatherds became alone.
4. Domestic goat
Currently, there are more than 200 varieties of domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus). The domestic goat is the world’s most diverse species, from miniatures raised as pets to silky cashmere goats whose coats are made into luxurious textiles to nearly 300-pound animals bred for meat. Dogs and goats have similar physical characteristics. Alley hee hoo!
5. Mouflon
Mouflons (Ovis orientalis) were the next target for the Fertile Crescent agrarians. There are two subspecies of this wild sheep that were brought down from the mountains, destined to become the primitive predecessors of Ugg boots and shearling jackets about 10,000 years ago-if that isn’t a tautology. A number of thousand years after the invention of wool, breeding varieties of animals appeared that produced wool, as evidenced by the fact that younger animals are found at older archaeological sites, indicating early sheep slaughter as hides and meat were highly valued rather than long-term wool production.
6. Domestic sheep
Among the approximately 200 breeds of domestic sheep (Ovis aries), there are those that produce heavy wool, and those that heat up and can die without regular shorning, as well as smooth, goat-like varieties found in tropical regions. The sheep’s herding behavior has made them synonymous with mindless tractability, yet some have shown remarkable signs of intelligence, including the ability to recognize names. Consider that the next time you slip your toes into an Australian brand of footwear.
7. Wild boar
Around 9,000 years ago, someone bravely ensnared a herd of terrifying wild boars (Sus scrofa). They likely hunted them where today’s Turkey is. There is a strong likelihood that the wild boars of China were domesticated independently of those in Europe. No matter their origins, their ancestors were forced to survive off of human carcasses; pigs often wandered the streets of ancient towns eating garbage and transforming it into food.
8. Domestic pig
Wow, look at them now! There are about 70 breeds of domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), from the distinguished Wilbur to the hairy, monstrous land breeds adapted to their circumstances. Domestic animals have evolved to suit their surroundings. The most misunderstood of domestic animals, the pig is nonetheless highly intelligent, and, as recent medical advances have shown, they may even be able to grow you a new heart, if the one you clogged with bacon fat didn’t do the job.
9. Wild horse
There is evidence that a wild horse (Equus ferus) was domesticated around 6,000 years ago in what is now Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Early domestic horses were used for transportation and for milking, practices which were captured throughout fantasy author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Raw horse heart, anyone? The ancestor of the horse as we know it no longer exists in the wild, though it likely resembled the related Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii).
10. Domestic horse
There are more than 200 breeds of horse (Equus caballus), along with hundreds of varieties which are not recognized by breeding associations. Although films like Seabiscuit and War Horse demonstrate the continued reverence of the equine, once considered a god or goddess in some cultures, horse meat is still widely consumed. In 2013, a scandal broke out due to a European processor mislabeling horse meat as beef, leading a number of companies to withdraw products that contained the product.
11. Domestic cat
There are more than 50 breeds of domestic cat recognized by the International Cat Association (Felis silvestris catus); other national breed associations recognize fewer. All cats, except a few, descend exclusively from the African wildcat despite their diversity of colors, body types, and fur types. Several species, including the Bengal, Chausie, and Ocicat, originated as a result of crossing with different species of small wild cats. Since then, they have been backcrossed to other domestic breeds and have been selected for docile temperaments over many generations.
12. European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
People who domesticated the wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) weren’t looking for fluffy lap warmers…unless you count loincloths as lap warmers. They were responsible for accidentally introducing rabbits to the rest of Europe when their easy meat sources dug their way to freedom when they used rabbits captured in Spain as a source of meat and fur sometime around 200 BCE. However, it was French monks who began the actual domestication process around 500 CE, for even less appealing reasons: infant rabbits, called Maurice, could be eaten during Lent.
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