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Essays on animal domestication
History of the domestication of dogs
Articles on plant and animal domestication and human development
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Domestication has significantly changed the evolution of human responsibility by designating areas of land, and training the fauna to fit our new agricultural way of life. Fauna such as dogs, sheep, pigs, cows, horses and more, have been fundamentally transformed by humans to make our lives better.
In the beginning, hunters and gathers foraged for flora and fauna only for food. In time, they began to understand that flora and fauna can be useful for labor, clothing, and protection as well as to move belongings. In the wild, faunas remain protective of themselves, their herd, and their young. However, humans have been able to alter their behavior. Eventually, some fauna have been trained to be docile and respond well to human instruction.
To begin with, one result from the domestication of plants is that the land changed considerably and consequently it was no longer substantial enough for complete sustenance of those who depended on hunting and gathering. Equally important, it was transformed into particular territories, collectively or individually. Another dramatic effect
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Specifically, the scientific community concluded that farmers focused on high carbohydrate crops like rice and potatoes. On the contrary, hunter-gathers fed upon a mixture of wild plants and animals in their diets which provided more protein and a better balance of other nutrients. Furthermore, dependence on a smaller number of plants was very risky should those plants fail, eliminating varieties with natural resistance. As cultivated plants took on an increasingly large role in their diet, people became dependent on plants and the plants in turn became completely dependent on the planting, watering and care of the crops by humans. The risk of failure and starvation increased as weather, insects and other uncontrollable cause and effect situations
The Cessation of Puppy Mills How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggly tail? Well, if you know where that puppy came from, you may think twice about purchasing the canine. Puppy mills have been around for over fifty years. (Madonna Of the Mills)
They reproduced in the wild and started becoming a nuisance to both Europeans and the natives as they destroyed agricultural plants and oyster beds. livestocks put more pressure on local pastures allowing way for the growth of tougher eurpean weeds and grasses. This led to a less conducive environment for plants and finally reduced the soils ability to retain water. Before a century went by, the ecosystem of New England had permanently changed and and would never return to normal. The ecological changes mentioned throughout this book although cultural were either economical or environmental: dandelion, the fence, the arrival of pigs etc was just an eye opener to to bring to light the complex process and changes brought about due to the arrival of the Europeans to America. Meanwhile these complex changes and in general the European colonization cannot be well understood except through understanding the effects of New England Indians and Europeans on their ecosystem. The book also goes on to show the genesis of the environmental problems of New England eg erosions, deforestation, and climate changes; which are but of a few factors we still have to deal with till today. This book indeed acomplish the authors thesis. I recommend this book because it seems to really prove how what the present generation does today may affect the our
When the word “domestication” is used when talking about dogs, most people have the misconception that humans brought dogs into their homes on purpose, and that is was something they did consciously. However, after reading about Hare’s research it is easy to understand that this
Domesticated animals were a way of life to the Europeans. As well as meat, animals could be used for their milk, ...
In Philip K. Dick's, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, animals have nearly become extinct after World War Terminus and the resulting nuclear fallout. This has suddenly caused animals to become a symbol of wealth and prestige rather than simply a slab of meat bought at the grocery store. But all-the-while, throughout the novel, Dick makes it apparent that the role of animals is actually to satisfy the owner's desire to simply own a real animal, opposed to a replicant animal, which is seen through the interactions of Deckard and his sheep, then again with his goat, and also with Isidore with the cat. In an effort to distinguish themselves from all other beings on a world that has been ravaged by war which has caused most people to emigrate to other planets, humans display their control or dominance over animals by preserving their existence on earth. It can be seen that humans actually do value and care for animals but not for an individual animal. Rather they possess them for the glorification of their status in society.
In 1865 the frontier line generally followed the western limits of the states bordering the Mississippi River, bulging outward to include the eastern sections of Kansas and Nebraska. Beyond this thin edge of pioneer farms, lay the prairie and sagebrush lands that stretched to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Then, for nearly 1,600 kilometers, loomed the huge bulk of mountain ranges, many rich in silver, gold and other metals. On the far side, plains and deserts were part of this region; here laid the "Last Frontier"--- the "Great Plains". "For a long time, the region had been called the Great American Dessert, a barrier to cross on the way to the Pacific, unfit for human habitation and therefore, to white Americans, the perfect refuge for Indians." (Tindall 857) Apart from the settled districts in California and scattered outposts, the vast inland region was populated by Native Americans: among them the Great Plains tribes -- Sioux and Blackfoot, Pawnee and Cheyenne -- and the Indian cultures of the Southwest, including Apache, Navajo, and Hopi. Soon these Indians were pushed away from their "safe haven". "They lost an estimated 86 million acres of their 130 million acres."(Tindall 873) The reason to this is because the white man went westward to expand.
...tion, including their initial evolution, their domestication, and the roles they played in human society throughout the ages. It is a relatively new book being published in 2010. Darcy Morey, the author of this book is a zooarchaeologist and focuses his research on the relationship between dogs and humans throughout time. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. This book is based on the authors own research and also refers to the information gathered by many other scientists, all of which are listed in the reference section of the book. As mentioned this book contains the results of research from many scientists and is beneficial for learning both general and more scientific knowledge on the subject. I would recommend it to anybody who is conduction a research on the topic. This book was found using I-Share using the search term the domestication of dogs.
In an agricultural society people started to farm and there were less to no hunting which changed their diets dramatically. When people were hunting and gathering they were getting a healthy and a well-balanced diet. Before agriculture people ate many various wild plants and animals therefore, they had better nutrition. For example, the Kalahari Bushmen’s daily intake was “2,140 calories and 93 grams of protein” (Diamond 2). Also when Diamond is comparing the two societies, he talks about the balance of nutrients and diet, also he states that the “Kalahari Bushmen eat a variety of 75 or so different wild plants” and receive more calories than needed. As the people switched over to agriculture, the amount of food they had become more plentiful and predictable but unhealthy. Nowadays, more people are overweight especially in the western area of the world. This proves that people before agriculture were healthy and had a decent
In the article “Worst Mistake in History of Human Race,” by Jared Diamond (1987), he discusses how the conversion a hunter- gatherer based society to an agricultural based one was a huge mistake. At first it was believed and is still believed by many that it has been one of the best decisions made by humans but he goes on to discuss how it is not and the disadvantages it has caused.
Diamond states that the reason hunter-gatherer groups became agriculturists was simply because it was easier to create more food for your individual group if it was grown, this statement does have validity. Everyone would be responsible for themselves and would be expected to help out. There wouldn’t be the constant grumbling that there are so many people being lazy and living off of handouts like there are in the modern world today.
This process is seen mostly in agriculture. It is because of artificial selection that we have the domesticated plants and livestock that we eat. In the case of canines, they were originally bred to become working and hunting dogs in agriculture. Later on they were bred as companion animals. The different variations of domesticated dog will be discussed later. The down fall of artificial selection is that it decreases variation in a species. Pure bred dog are highly susceptible to many different disorders and disease because of the lack of variation in their genotype. With these two processes, today we have friendly canine
Domestication is a process in which wild species are removed their natural habitat and are acclimatised to surviving and breeding in captive. Animals are domesticated for purposes which, in general, are designed to be beneficial to humans. These reasons commonly include labour, food sources and companionship. Over generations, domestication results in genetic and physiological changes in the organism (Wilson,. Mammal Species of the World (3rd Ed.). Baltimore).
The choice to change to an agricultural society may have actually been the best choice available when considering the conditions that existed at the time of the dramatic change from a primarily hunter-gather society to an agricultural society, it may have been the ...
Domesticated Cattle belong to the family Bovidae and sub family Bovinae, which appeared in the Miocene approximately 20 million years ago. There are more than 800 different cattle breeds recognized worldwide. Cattle are considered the most important and significant domesticated economic animal (Loftus et al. 1994). In addition to milk, cattle contribute other important commodities including meat, hides, traction and dung. The taurine and zebu cattle were probably domesticated and kept around for easy access to food, including meat, milk & their products and for their use as load-bearers and plows. The many archaeological records for domestication of wild forms of cattle (Bos primigenius) indicated that the process
This time period was a major stepping stone for many of the Native Americans that struggled to keep up with food supplies. Some groups did not like the idea of planting food themselves and jeopardizing what had already been foraged. So, therefore they just stayed with their traditional ways of hunting and gathering, which was fine. On the other hand, some other people wanted to try this new idea out and wanted to experiment the news ways of agriculture. With this new stepping stone into culture, people progressed from hunting and gathering to a more agricultural minded society by planting and developing their food sources. At t...