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“Zebras …”

“Zebras …”. Animal Domestication & Anna Karenina. Zebras …. Two Principles: Tolstoy (Anna K): “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Diamond (GGS): “Domesticable animals are all alike; every undomesticable animal is undomesticable in its own way.”.

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“Zebras …”

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  1. “Zebras …” Animal Domestication & Anna Karenina

  2. Zebras … • Two Principles: Tolstoy (Anna K): “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Diamond (GGS): “Domesticable animals are all alike; every undomesticable animal is undomesticable in its own way.”

  3. Zebras … • So What Does That Mean? • Failure in anyone essential aspect can doom a marriage, or the domestication of animal, even if all other elements for success are met.

  4. Zebras … • Big Domestic Mammals Were Important • Meat • Milk • Fertilizer • Land Transport • Military Assault (horses) • Plow Traction • Wool • Germs

  5. Zebras … • Small Domestic Animals & Birds also of Use in Ancient Times: Animal/ BirdAreaUse Chicken China Meat/eggs Ducks/Geese Eurasia Meat/eggs Turkeys Mesoamerica Meat/eggs Guinea Fowl Africa Meat/eggs Muscovy Ducks S. America Meat/eggs Wolves (Dogs) Eurasia/N.A. Pets/ Hunting Small Rodents All Meat

  6. Zebras … • Why Choose Big Terrestrial Herbivores? • Big: Weighing more than 100 pounds • More meat, replace human labour • Terrestrial: On land • Sea and sky creatures hard to herd or harness • Herbivore (Omni?): Does not eat meat! • Raise non-carnivorous, for obvious reasons

  7. Zebras … • The Big Terrestrial Herbivores (p. 160, Table 9.1) • Only 14 domesticated before 1900 • Only 5 became widespread: • Cow • Sheep • Goat • Pig • Horse • Others include: • Arabian Camels (one-hump), Bactrian Camel (two-hump) Llama/Alpaca, Donkey, Reindeer, Water Buffalo, Yak, Bantang (Bali cattle) & Gaur (Mithan)

  8. Zebras … • Tame vs. Domestic • Morphological change & captive breeding is essential to domestication • Tame Elephant vs. Domestic Cattle • “… selectively bred in captivity and modified from its wild ancestors, for use by humans who control the animals breeding and food supply.” • Two forces of change: • Human Selection • Animal Response to Human Selection

  9. Zebras … From Guns, Germs and Steel, p 162

  10. Zebras … • Location of Animal Domesticates: • Unequal Distribution of Ancestral Species • Most in Eurasia • World’s largest land mass • Diverse Environment • Largest Number of “candidates” • But, was the unequal distribution due to human cultural bias? • No, for five reasons …

  11. Zebras … • Five Reasons: • Rapid Uptake of Eurasian Domesticates • Penchant for Keeping Pets • Rapid Domestication of Ancient 14 • Repeated Independent Domestication • Limited Success of Modern Domestication Therefore, definitely not a human cultural bias

  12. Zebras … • So why didn’t any of the other 148 candidates make the cut? • Anna Karenina Principle • Diet • Growth Rate • Problems with Captive Breeding • Nasty Disposition • Tendency to Panic • Social Structure

  13. Zebras … From Guns, Germs and Steel, p 162

  14. Assigned Readings For Friday: Course ReaderG G S “Spacious Skies …” pp47-54 pp176-191 By Diamond (GGS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Monday: Course (at least to p. 78) ReaderG G S Medievil Section pp60-93 By Walburger

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