“Zebras …”

Animal Domestication

& Anna Karenina

Zebras …

• Two Principles:Tolstoy (Anna K): “Happy families are all alike;

every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Diamond (GGS): “Domesticable animals are all alike; every undomesticable animal is undomesticable in its own way.”

Zebras …

• So What Does That Mean?– Failure in anyone essential aspect can doom

a marriage, or the domestication of animal, even if all other elements for success are met.

Zebras …

• Big Domestic Mammals Were Important– Meat– Milk– Fertilizer– Land Transport– Military Assault (horses)– Plow Traction– Wool – Germs

Zebras …

• Small Domestic Animals & Birds also of Use in Ancient Times:

Animal/ Bird Area UseChicken China Meat/eggsDucks/Geese Eurasia Meat/eggsTurkeys Mesoamerica Meat/eggsGuinea Fowl Africa Meat/eggsMuscovy Ducks S. America Meat/eggs Wolves (Dogs) Eurasia/N.A. Pets/ HuntingSmall Rodents All Meat

Zebras …

• Why Choose Big Terrestrial Herbivores?– Big: Weighing more than 100 pounds

• More meat, replace human labour

– Terrestrial: On land• Sea and sky creatures hard to herd or harness

– Herbivore (Omni?): Does not eat meat!• Raise non-carnivorous, for obvious reasons

Zebras …

• The Big Terrestrial Herbivores (p. 160, Table 9.1)

– Only 14 domesticated before 1900– Only 5 became widespread:

• Cow• Sheep• Goat• Pig• Horse

– Others include: • Arabian Camels (one-hump), Bactrian Camel (two-hump)

Llama/Alpaca, Donkey, Reindeer, Water Buffalo, Yak, Bantang (Bali cattle) & Gaur (Mithan)

Zebras …

• Tame vs. Domestic– Morphological change & captive breeding is

essential to domestication• Tame Elephant vs. Domestic Cattle

– “… selectively bred in captivity and modified from its wild ancestors, for use by humans who control the animals breeding and food supply.”

– Two forces of change:• Human Selection• Animal Response to Human Selection

Zebras …From Guns, Germs and Steel, p 162

Zebras …

• Location of Animal Domesticates: – Unequal Distribution of Ancestral Species

• Most in Eurasia– World’s largest land mass– Diverse Environment– Largest Number of “candidates”

– But, was the unequal distribution due to human cultural bias?

• No, for five reasons …

Zebras …

• Five Reasons:1) Rapid Uptake of Eurasian Domesticates

2) Penchant for Keeping Pets

3) Rapid Domestication of Ancient 14

4) Repeated Independent Domestication

5) Limited Success of Modern Domestication

Therefore, definitely not a human cultural bias

Zebras …

• So why didn’t any of the other 148 candidates make the cut?– Anna Karenina Principle

• Diet• Growth Rate• Problems with Captive Breeding• Nasty Disposition• Tendency to Panic• Social Structure

Zebras …From Guns, Germs and Steel, p 162

Assigned Readings

For Friday: Course

Reader G G S

“Spacious Skies …” pp47-54 pp176-191By Diamond (GGS)

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For Monday: Course

(at least to p. 78) Reader G G S

Medievil Section pp60-93By Walburger