Summary Of Taming The Wild

Introduction: Despite an animal’s nature, tameness in animals is not due to a genetic mutation. There are several other factors such as setting, habit, and upbringing that play an important role in domesticity.

Summary: Erin Ratliff explains in the article “Taming the Wild” how researchers from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICG) are trying to discover the specific genes responsible for tameness and domestication. He does so by examining their ongoing research with silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) which remains inconclusive.

Habit: Researchers from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICG) have identified regions of the genome that are involved with tameness and aggression. Their goal is to define specific genes within the genome that

This means that the dog is reverting to its wild nature. Despite the genes that would normally categorize the dog as a domestic or tamed animal, the domestic dog is now essentially becoming a wolf. Wolves are the ancestors of all dogs; they are not suited to live with humans due to their more complex pack structures of life, whereas dogs generally tend to accept whatever hierarchy they live in. A notable distinction between wolves and dogs is the mental maturity that can be reached by both species. Mature wolves, typically between two to three years of age, possess a mental maturity that dogs will never be able to reach in their entire lifespan due to their brain size that is relatively only one-third of that of their wild counterpart. This lack of mental maturity in dogs makes them more aggressive than wolves since aggressiveness is the most common defense mechanism of animal young in the wild. Furthermore, if tameness and aggression are genetic traits this retrogression from domestic to wild animal would not be possible, despite the several similarities shared between wolves and dogs, because genetically dogs represent one

For example, two “Pitbulls” born from the same litter are given to two different owners; the first pup is brought up as a domestic, caring animal, able to coexist with humans of all ages and accustomed to sharing their living space with an array of animals of different species. On the contrary, the second pup is brought up as a fighting dog, up to an extent where the owner can no longer control the dog and it reaches a point where the dog is now so wild that it will attack humans and animals without an apparent cause. Although both pups are genetically equal up to a certain point and assuming they both share the genes responsible for tameness and domesticity, their distinct upbringings can still turn them into domestic or wild animals. Thus, implying that tameness, is just a unique quality that can be learned and passed on from species to species, rather than an inherited gene; It is an ability that can be improved and developed through example and