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Domestication involves both culture and biology. The cultural process of domestication begins when animals are incorporated into the social structure of a human community and become objects of ownership, inheritance, purchase and exchange. The morphological changes that occur in domestic animals come second to this integration into human society. The biological process resembles evolution and begins when a small number of parent animals are separated from the wild species and are habituated to humans. These animals form a founder group, which is changed over successive generations, in response to natural selection under the new regime imposed by the human community and its environment, and also by artificial selection for economic, cultural, or aesthetic reasons. In the wild, the evolution of a subspecies occurs when a segment of a species becomes reproductively isolated by a geographical barrier. With domestic animals, this separation leads to the development of different breeds.

the level of species has been critically examined on phenetic characters. The results demonstrate the isolated positions of the monospecific genera Lycaon, Speothos and Cuon and do not strongly support their grouping as a discrete subfamily. The status of Otocyon, Nyctereutes, Chrysocyon and Alopex as monospecific genera is also upheld although Alopex is clearly related to the other foxes of the genus Vulpes. Urocyon and Fennecus are included in Vulpes, and Cerdocyon and Atelocynus in Dusicyon.The three larger genera, Canis, Vulpes and Dusicyon, are retained although they are closely interrelated. Vulpes vulpes is shown to be a distinctly atypical member of its genus. The position of the extinct Falkland Island wolf was found to be enigmatic but it is provisionally retained with other species of Dusicyon.A systematic description is given of each species and the data are presented as a series of tables that may be used for reference.

Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became house cats earlier—and in a different place—than previously thought