Download or read book How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog written by Lee Alan Dugatkin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-04-14 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tucked away in Siberia, there are furry, four-legged creatures with wagging tails and floppy ears that are as docile and friendly as any lapdog. But, despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, by starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. The foxes were bred using selection criteria for tameness, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. Trut has been there the whole time, and has been the lead scientist on this work since Belyaev’s death in 1985, and with Lee Dugatkin, biologist and science writer, she tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. In How to Tame a Fox, Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal winters of Siberia to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated, and we continue to learn significant lessons from them about the genetic and behavioral evolution of domesticated animals. How to Tame a Fox offers an incredible tale of scientists at work, while also celebrating the deep attachments that have brought humans and animals together throughout time.

Download or read book How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog written by Lee Alan Dugatkin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-03-23 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to speed up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. They started with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. Within a decade the experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. Dugatkin and Trut examine the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all.

Download or read book How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog written by Lee Alan Dugatkin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-03-23 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true story of an amazing breeding experiment in Siberia is “part science, part Russian fairy tale, and part spy thriller” (The New York Times Book Review). Tucked away in Siberia, there are furry, four-legged creatures with wagging tails and floppy ears that are as docile and friendly as any lapdog. But despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated. In this book Trut, along with biologist and science writer Lee Dugatkin, tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal Siberian winters to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. “The science is profound, but the authors write accessibly and engagingly—and their vulpine subjects are awfully cute, too. Of compelling interest to any animal lover.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A cheerful, easy-to-read account. . . . spin[s] complex genetic science into a fascinating story about adorable foxes.” —Publishers Weekly “An extraordinary story.” —Times Literary Supplement

Download or read book Silver Fox Farming written by Wilfred Hudson Osgood and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the foregoing it is evident that silver foxes can be and in fact, are being propagated in confinement. Like most new enterprises, fox raising is a business regarding which opinions vary. The favorable facts are that silver foxes are easily and securely kept in simple wire inclosures; that suitable food for them is cheap and easily obtainable; that they are not subject to serious diseases and that their disposition and quality of their fur can be improved by selective breeding. Opposed to these are the unfavorable facts that they are by nature suspicious, nervous, and not inclined to repose confidence in man; and that, largely for these reasons, they do not breed regularly and successfully, except when cared for by experienced persons more or less gifted in handling them. The number of persons now engaged in the business is relatively small, and the work is still experimental, yet many of the initial difficulties already have been overcome. Numerous minor failures seem explainable in large measure, and are offset by several conspicuous successes. It is therefore probable that under proper management fox raising will be developed into a profitable industry, and it is perhaps not too much to expect that a domestic breed of foxes will be produced. Only time can show how far such expectations will be realized, but present indications must be regarded as very encouraging.

Download or read book Genetics of the Dog written by Elaine A. Ostrander and published by CABI. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recognizing the significant advances made in the field of animal genetics in the ten years since the first edition of "The Genetics of the Dog", this new edition of the successful 2001 book provides a comprehensive update on the subject, along with new material on topics of current and growing interest. Existing chapters on essential topics such as immunogenetics, genetics of diseases, developmental genetics and the genetics of behaviour have been fully updated, while new authors report on the latest advances in areas such as genetic diversity of dog breeds, canine genomics, olfactor.

Download or read book The Goodness Paradox written by Richard Wrangham and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-01-29 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A fascinating new analysis of human violence, filled with fresh ideas and gripping evidence from our primate cousins, historical forebears, and contemporary neighbors.” —Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature We Homo sapiens can be the nicest of species and also the nastiest. What occurred during human evolution to account for this paradox? What are the two kinds of aggression that primates are prone to, and why did each evolve separately? How does the intensity of violence among humans compare with the aggressive behavior of other primates? How did humans domesticate themselves? And how were the acquisition of language and the practice of capital punishment determining factors in the rise of culture and civilization? Authoritative, provocative, and engaging, The Goodness Paradox offers a startlingly original theory of how, in the last 250 million years, humankind became an increasingly peaceful species in daily interactions even as its capacity for coolly planned and devastating violence remains undiminished. In tracing the evolutionary histories of reactive and proactive aggression, biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham forcefully and persuasively argues for the necessity of social tolerance and the control of savage divisiveness still haunting us today.

Download or read book Farmers Bulletin written by United States. Department of Agriculture and published by . This book was released on 1918 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Foxes Wolves Jackals and Dogs written by Joshua Ross Ginsberg and published by IUCN. This book was released on 1990 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Covenant of the Wild written by Stephen Budiansky and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Domesticated Silver Fox written by United States. Department of Agriculture and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Pushinka the Barking Fox written by Lee Alan Dugatkin and published by Persnickety Press. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lyudmila Trut, a lead researcher in a silver fox domestication experiment, met Pushinka, a silver fox, that she decided to take the experiment a step further with by moving into a small house.

Download or read book Survival of the Friendliest written by Brian Hare and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful new theory of human nature suggests that our secret to success as a species is our unique friendliness “Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring—and a riveting read. Hare and Woods have written the perfect book for our time.”—Cass R. Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge For most of the approximately 300,000 years that Homo sapiens have existed, we have shared the planet with at least four other types of humans. All of these were smart, strong, and inventive. But around 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens made a cognitive leap that gave us an edge over other species. What happened? Since Charles Darwin wrote about “evolutionary fitness,” the idea of fitness has been confused with physical strength, tactical brilliance, and aggression. In fact, what made us evolutionarily fit was a remarkable kind of friendliness, a virtuosic ability to coordinate and communicate with others that allowed us to achieve all the cultural and technical marvels in human history. Advancing what they call the “self-domestication theory,” Brian Hare, professor in the department of evolutionary anthropology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and his wife, Vanessa Woods, a research scientist and award-winning journalist, shed light on the mysterious leap in human cognition that allowed Homo sapiens to thrive. But this gift for friendliness came at a cost. Just as a mother bear is most dangerous around her cubs, we are at our most dangerous when someone we love is threatened by an “outsider.” The threatening outsider is demoted to sub-human, fair game for our worst instincts. Hare’s groundbreaking research, developed in close coordination with Richard Wrangham and Michael Tomasello, giants in the field of cognitive evolution, reveals that the same traits that make us the most tolerant species on the planet also make us the cruelest. Survival of the Friendliest offers us a new way to look at our cultural as well as cognitive evolution and sends a clear message: In order to survive and even to flourish, we need to expand our definition of who belongs.

Download or read book Silver Fox Farming in Eastern North America written by Ned Dearborn and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pp. 34.

Download or read book The Domesticated Silver Fox written by and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Canids of the World written by José R. Castelló and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most complete and user-friendly photographic field guide to the world’s canids This stunningly illustrated and easy-to-use field guide covers every species of the world’s canids, from the Gray Wolf of North America to the dholes of Asia, from African jackals to the South American Bush Dog. It features more than 150 superb color plates depicting every kind of canid and detailed facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, morphology, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and conservation status in the wild. The book also includes distribution maps and tips on where to observe each species, making Canids of the World the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to these intriguing and spectacular mammals. Covers every species and subspecies of canid Features more than 150 color plates with more than 600 photos from around the globe Depicts species in similar poses for quick and easy comparisons Describes key identification features, habitat, behavior, reproduction, and much more Draws on the latest taxonomic research Includes distribution maps and tips on where to observe each species The ideal field companion and a delight for armchair naturalists

Download or read book Humankind written by Rutger Bregman and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The “lively” (The New Yorker), “convincing” (Forbes), and “riveting pick-me-up we all need right now” (People) that proves humanity thrives in a crisis and that our innate kindness and cooperation have been the greatest factors in our long-term success as a species. If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest. But what if it isn't true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. In fact this instinct has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the solidarity in the aftermath of the Blitz, the hidden flaws in the Stanford prison experiment to the true story of twin brothers on opposite sides who helped Mandela end apartheid, Bregman shows us that believing in human generosity and collaboration isn't merely optimistic—it's realistic. Moreover, it has huge implications for how society functions. When we think the worst of people, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics. But if we believe in the reality of humanity's kindness and altruism, it will form the foundation for achieving true change in society, a case that Bregman makes convincingly with his signature wit, refreshing frankness, and memorable storytelling. "The Sapiens of 2020." —The Guardian "Humankind made me see humanity from a fresh perspective." —Yuval Noah Harari, author of the #1 bestseller Sapiens Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction One of the Washington Post's 50 Notable Nonfiction Works in 2020

Download or read book The Altruism Equation written by Lee Alan Dugatkin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-29 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a world supposedly governed by ruthless survival of the fittest, why do we see acts of goodness in both animals and humans? This problem plagued Charles Darwin in the 1850s as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Indeed, Darwin worried that the goodness he observed in nature could be the Achilles heel of his theory. Ever since then, scientists and other thinkers have engaged in a fierce debate about the origins of goodness that has dragged politics, philosophy, and religion into what remains a major question for evolutionary biology. The Altruism Equation traces the history of this debate from Darwin to the present through an extraordinary cast of characters-from the Russian prince Petr Kropotkin, who wanted to base society on altruism, to the brilliant biologist George Price, who fell into poverty and succumbed to suicide as he obsessed over the problem. In a final surprising turn, William Hamilton, the scientist who came up with the equation that reduced altruism to the cold language of natural selection, desperately hoped that his theory did not apply to humans. Hamilton's Rule, which states that relatives are worth helping in direct proportion to their blood relatedness, is as fundamental to evolutionary biology as Newton's laws of motion are to physics. But even today, decades after its formulation, Hamilton's Rule is still hotly debated among those who cannot accept that goodness can be explained by a simple mathematical formula. For the first time, Lee Alan Dugatkin brings to life the people, the issues, and the passions that have surrounded the altruism debate. Readers will be swept along by this fast-paced tale of history, biography, and scientific discovery.