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> I find myself thinking of dog breeds: Over the last ~150 years, selective breeding has led to an explosion of phenotypes, but there's a limit to how much huma
by chmod775 3y ago
> I find myself thinking of dog breeds: Over the last ~150 years, selective breeding has led to an explosion of phenotypes, but there's a limit to how much humans can take credit--or perhaps blame---for all the results.
Dogs as a species wouldn't exist if humans didn't selectively breed a now extinct lineage of wolves, which to me means that humanity is to blame for all of it.
- jibal 3y agoIt's well known that wolves self-domesticated, resulting in the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris.
- chmod775 3y ago> It's well known that wolves self-domesticated It is really not. All we have are two popular hypotheses, which may even be true at the same time. It is clear the self-domestication pathway would not have worked without humans allowing it to happen. This quickly devolves into semantics. It is however not up for debate that humans have been breeding dogs/wolves for millennia. > resulting in the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris. Put the wrong two zoologists in the same room and if you're unlucky they'll bore you all day debating whether domesticated dogs are a distinct taxon. Just say species without specifying and you'll sidestep the issue. If you want to call them Canis lupus familiaris rather than Canis familiaris, then sure! I guess that's why I meant!
- jibal 3y ago"This quickly devolves into semantics." It quickly devolves into you being wrong that humans get all the blame for it. That's the point and the rest is deflection and strawmen like "It is however not up for debate that humans have been breeding dogs/wolves for millennia" -- duh.