Domestication

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/domestication

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name of domestic cattle?Bos taurus (for taurine cattle) and Bos indicus (for zebu cattle)
2. What is the key genetic changes?Alterations in genes related to brain development, stress response, metabolism, and reproduction
3. What is domestication and when did it start?Domestication is when humans and animals become close friends, beginning about 15,000 years ago with wolves. It was a long process that happened in many places around the world.
4. How did humans and animals become friends?Humans started feeding bolder animals near their camps. Over many generations those animals grew more friendly and changed a little bit from their wild cousins.

Niche Construction: The process by which organisms modify their own and each other's environments.
Co-evolution: The process where two species influence each other's evolution over time.
Neolithic Revolution: The fundamental change in human lifestyle from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled agriculture and animal husbandry.