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Artificial selection also appears to work in unusual ways. We don't really understand the mechanics of it. Foxes were selectively bred in several experiments (a
by netcan 12y ago
Artificial selection also appears to work in unusual ways. We don't really understand the mechanics of it. Foxes were selectively bred in several experiments (and for the fur trade) for tameness. Basically breeding only foxes that don't bite or recoil from people.
The breed developed a whole range of dog like characteristic, behavioral and morphological. They whine and bark (which neither wolves or wild foxes do). They develop a diversity of coloration. I've even heard some had cute floppy ears. Obviously there is a corollary to dog evolution, which we don't really understand either.
Selecting for a trait or a family of traits in humans will probably have unexpected side effects.
- falcor84 12y agoJust putting a relevant wikipedia article here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox
- htns 12y agoWolves not barking is a myth, at least if I believe my first google hit.
- netcan 12y agoAt the very least, dogs bark much more.
- wtbob 12y agoYeah, the domestication of the silver fox is one of those really cool stories but also—to someone as astute as you—is a bit of a cautionary tale about unintended consequences.
- gwern 12y ago> s a bit of a cautionary tale about unintended consequences. There was nothing unintended about it: the original hypothesis was to see if those changes were interconnected as they seemed to be in various domesticated animals. The effect of domestication was large enough to be observed, one might say, with the naked eye. As I keep asking in this page in response to all the groundless fearmongering: do we observe, with the naked eye, huge increases in pathologies of various sorts with people of extremely high intelligence? Or do we observe only some small increases in some problems and also indications of net benefits like increased longevity?