How repeatedly mating the same domesticated wolves gave us all these different dog breeds?
In: Biology
Dogs (and wolves) have what’s called high “genetic plasticity”.
That means that there is lots of variation within dogs that can easily be unlocked. Their size, shape, demeanor, etc can all be dramatically changed via genetics. This enabled wolves to be highly adaptable animals that could survive anywhere, and it also meant that you can get many different kinds of breed.
Most dog breeds were created in the last 200 years. You only need to artificially select for a few generations and you can dramatically change a breed.
Other animals just don’t have the genes required for multiple breeds. Humans can’t add genes to an animal, we can only select them when they appear, and we are lucky that dogs are like that!
Start with 4 wolves.
1: ‘nice 2 & 3 ‘normal’ and 4: ‘angry’
Allow 1 to breed with 2/3 and see if the pups are “nice” and DO NOT breed 4
If pups are “nice” then repeat with “nice” pups until pretty much all wolves born are “nice”
Do this for 20 or 200 or 2,000 years and you have dogs, not wolves.
Do the same thing for any trait(s) you desire.
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