Brief History of Pet Domestication

Photo: A Pet Cat (P.C.: Pixabay)

The idea that a dog is man’s best friend seems to be a very old concept. In fact, a dog jawbone found in Iraq led scientists to believe that dogs were domesticated over 14,000 years ago. Although wolves are the closest relatives of dogs, scientists are able to distinguish the skeletal elements because wolf heads grow larger through adulthood, whereas that of a dog retains juvenile traits.

Though dogs have been domesticated for a long time, they have undergone many changes since those earliest years, as humans have used selective breeding to create new dog breeds with desired qualities. The Romans preferred colors for their dogs: shepherd’s dogs were bred white so they did not look like wolves at night and farmyard dogs were to be black to scare away thieves. Their shapes have also changed, although smaller-bodied dogs are not a modern invention. There is evidence that a dog similar to the Pekingese, a small, vulnerable dog, lived in China in the 1st century A.D.

Cats are descended from five different types of wildcat, and are thought to have been first domesticated around 7,500 B.C. Whilethey have been used as companions and pets, they have historically also been used for controlling mice and rat infestations. In fact, it is believed that cats may have first encountered humans after they were attracted to rat-infested areas where humans lived.

Though the first evidence of a domesticated cat was found in Cyprus, they are most famous for their role in ancient Egyptian society. Egyptians often mummified cats and placed them in luxurious chambers in the pyramids. There were even three feline goddesses that Egyptians worshipped.

Acknowledgment: Journal of young investigators