Animal Domestication: A Brief Overview

Abstract

In the origin of modern humans, hunting of wild animals and gathering of wild plants in nature were the primary subsistence strategies. Yet, about 12,000 years ago, the domestication of plants and animals began. The two main goals of the present chapter are to briefly describe (i) how wild animals were domesticated and (ii) what are the main biological consequences for the major farmed species (cattle, pig, sheep, goat, and horse). During about 98% of their domestication history, domestic animals have been managed in a sustainable way by farmers, followed by a period of strong selection about 200 years ago to produce hundreds of well-defined breeds. A few decades ago, the selection pressures have further increased, leading to a few industrial breeds, which were introduced in numerous countries, most often at the expense of local breeds. Within a few decades, we thus might lose most of the highly valuable farm animal genetic resources that humans have gradually selected over the past millennia. Consequently, priorities should be given to preserve the genetic resources in marginal or rare breeds, and selection programs should aim at restoring the genetic diversity in industrial breeds.

Harnessing genomics to fast-track genetic improvement in aquaculture

“…Firstly, they remain in the early stages of the domestication process 11 (Fig. 1), which is linked to higher within-species genetic diversity.…”

“…A key difference between livestock and aquaculture species is that domestication of terrestrial livestock occurred in tandem with global human migration several millennia prior to the informed management of breeding populations, and modern livestock lines have typically undergone multiple major genetic bottlenecks [G] 11 . By contrast, the time lag between domestication and selective breeding is considerably shorter in aquaculture species, with both occurring in tandem in many cases.…”

Whole genome re-sequencing reveals recent signatures of selection in three strains of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

“…Domestication is the process of constant evolutionary and genetic changes in response to captivity 10 . Nile tilapia can be considered to have reached the level of true domestication (level 5), according to the five categories of the domestication process 11 , 12 . This process may have shaped the genetic diversity of Nile tilapia, leaving signatures in their genomes that can be traced.…”

Detection of selection signatures in farmed coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) using dense genome-wide information

“…In fishes, domestication is recent in comparison with other land animals (Teletchea, 2018), although some evidence of fish farming dates back approximately 3,500 years ago (Balon, 2004). An exponential development of aquaculture has occurred since 1960, relying on the domestication of a handful aquatic species (Teletchea, 2018). Salmonid species in particular have seen very intensive production increases over the last four decades.…”