What is domestication?
- PMID: 35534288
- DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.04.006
What is domestication?
Abstract
The nature of domestication is often misunderstood. Most definitions of the process are anthropocentric and center on human intentionality, which minimizes the role of unconscious selection and also excludes non-human domesticators. An overarching, biologically grounded definition of domestication is discussed, which emphasizes its core nature as a coevolutionary process that arises from a specialized mutualism, in which one species controls the fitness of another in order to gain resources and/or services. This inclusive definition encompasses both human-associated domestication of crop plants and livestock as well as other non-human domesticators, such as insects. It also calls into question the idea that humans are themselves domesticated, given that evolution of human traits did not arise through the control of fitness by another species.
Keywords: agricultural origins; coevolution; commensals; human domestication; insect farming; mutualism; ornamental species; peri-domesticates; weeds.
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests No interests are declared.
Comment in
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Control is not necessary in domestication.Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Oct;37(10):823-824. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.001. Epub 2022 Jul 19. Trends Ecol Evol. 2022. PMID: 35868882 No abstract available.
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Control as a unique attribute of domestication (a reply to Clement).Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Oct;37(10):825. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.005. Epub 2022 Jul 29. Trends Ecol Evol. 2022. PMID: 35914976 No abstract available.
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