Thanks for this. Dogs roxor. On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:36 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]>wrote:
> > I was reading another discussion about he early domestication of dogs. > It suggested that they sort of domesticated themselves. They were camp > scavengers, and eventually became an ally / first domesticated animal. > One person suggested that after they became associated with humans it > became apparent that they were very useful as sentinals. What it meant > was that those groups with dogs were more likely to survive and pass > on its genes, so the behaviors associated with domesticating animals > were encouraged and passed on as well. > > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:02 PM, Ras Tafari <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > love this. > > > > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >> > http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201011/why-dogs-are-so-different-wolves > >> > >> Why dogs are so different from wolves > >> > >> By Nigel Barber, Ph.D. > >> Created Nov 16 2010 - 6:38am > >> > >> A recent PBS documentary highlighted some of the remarkable > >> differences between wolves and domesticated dogs (Nova: Dogs Decoded, > >> video). The Nova segment is a remarkable distillation of recent > >> evidence about how humans have altered dogs through artificial > >> selection, and been altered ourselves in the process. > >> > >> As I discussed in an earlier post, there is much controversy about how > >> long our mutual admiration society has been in operation, with > >> estimates ranging from about 10,000 to 100,000 years. > >> > >> However long our association with dogs has gone on, we have altered > >> them radically from ancestral wolves although they can still > >> interbreed and are thus the same species. The primary factor that > >> humans selected for was tameness, or low levels of aggression. The > >> main mechanism through which this was accomplished was neotenization, > >> or retention of juvenile low aggression into adult life. We also > >> selected animals who paid attention to us. > >> > >> The resulting differences between dogs and wolves are striking. When > >> wolves were raised in human homes, they were a great deal more > >> aggressive and less respectful of human rules. Although wolf cubs are > >> cute, they quickly mature into wild animals who have little interest > >> in their masters. > >> > >> Apart from the more obvious anatomical signs of juvenility, such as > >> shortened snout and more domed skull, adult dogs are remarkably > >> sensitive to human social cues in a way that hand raised wolves are > >> not. > >> > >> Dogs are exquisitely sensitive to gestures, such as pointing, and are > >> very good at finding hidden food when we point to it, something no > >> other animal can do. Another uncanny canine capacity is their facility > >> at reading our emotions. You don't have to tell your dog whether you > >> have had a good day or not. > >> > >> How dogs decode our emotions may be complex and is poorly understood. > >> One of the more fascinating recent discoveries is that when dogs look > >> at human faces, they gaze to their left, fixating the right side of > >> our faces that convey more emotion than the left side. > >> > >> In the course of exploiting their niche as our best friends forever, > >> dogs evolved a varied repertoire of barks to signify various emotions. > >> Wolves evidently have less range in their vocal repertoire although > >> the Nova claim that they have only one bark (for anger) is a mistake > >> (at least for pack animals in the wild). Recent research finds that > >> domestic dogs have at least eight different barks that people can > >> distinguish (e.g., when the dog is left alone, when it encounters a > >> territorial threat, when it is frightened, or dejected). > >> > >> If all of this were not enough, it seems that dogs are very much > >> better at understanding our words than we are at deciphering their > >> barks. Witness the border collie who recognizes words for some 300 > >> different objects that it will fetch on demand. > >> > >> It seems that the process of domestication has had profound genetic > >> effects for dogs. Dogs also allowed our ancestors to become much more > >> effective hunters and their services as herders likely played a role > >> in domesticating other species. > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Larry C. Lyons > >> web: http://www.lyonsmorris.com/lyons > >> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/larryclyons > >> -- > >> People need to realize that the plural of anecdote is not data. > >> > >> > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:331820 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
