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Sunday 26 October 2014

Domestic Animal

The dog was the first animal domesticated by humans. Its bones are common in campsites of the late Neolithic that date back more than 10,000 years. At least five different kinds of dogs similar to the household pets of today have been identified from these remains.

The association may have developed gradually as wild dogs took to hanging around encampments to pilfer scraps, and humans began to rely on the dogs for warning of any approaching danger.

Wild cats began to cross paths with humans when farming developed in Western Asia. Cats came more frequently into villages where grain stocks attracted mice and man began to realize that that could use cats for reducing the number of mice.

We know that cattle were domesticated in Asia first, as their bones have been found in settlements there earlier than anywhere else.

Shorthorn cattle were introduced into Europe from Central Asia when the long-horned urus (now extinct) was still running wild. The urus and the Celtic ox were domesticated later than the Asian breeds of cattle.

In North America before the arrival of the Europeans, the only domesticated animal among the Native Americans was the dog.

Not one new species has been domesticated in the past 4,000 years, unless laboratory animals such as mice, rats, and monkeys can be considered domesticated.

The cat is the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible.

Sources Encyclopedia Britannica, Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc., 

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