World History- Domestication of plants and Animals

Domestication of Plants and Animals

By: Vashti, Sophia, Katrina, Hannah, Lauren, Dasialynn, and Alegra

What is domestication?

Domestication is the process of adapting wild plants and animals for human use. Domestic species are raised for food, work, clothing, medicine, and many other uses.

Why is domestication a thing

• Domestication of plants were triggered by the climatic and environmental changes that occured after the peak of the last Glacial Maximum around 21,000 years ago and still occur to this day.
• The first attempts at domestication of animals and plants apparently were made in the Old World during the Mesolithic Period.

Why is domestication a thing

• Domestication of plants were triggered by the climatic and environmental changes that occured after the peak of the last Glacial Maximum around 21,000 years ago and still occur to this day.
• The first attempts at domestication of animals and plants apparently were made in the Old World during the Mesolithic Period.

Examples of domestication in animals

Dogs

Sheep and goats

Horses

Dogs were first domesticated in Central Asia at least 15,000 years ago by people who engaged in hunting and gathering wild edible plants.

Sheep and goats were also eaten in the initial stages of domestication but later became valuable for producing the commodities of milk and wool.

The first domesticated horses were also used for meat and skin. Later the horse played an enormous role in the waging of war.

Examples of domestication in Plants

Potatoes

Corn

Barley

A prominent cereal grain farmed throughout the world in temperate regions is barley, a member of the grass family. It was one of the first grains to be farmed, especially in Eurasia 10,000 years ago.

Corn was originally domesticated in Mexico by native peoples by about 9,000 years ago. They used many generations of selective breeding to transform a wild teosinte grass with small grains into the rich source of food

The humble potato was first introduced to Europe in the middle of the 1500s after being domesticated in the South American Andes about 8,000 years ago.

CONSEQUENCES

Due to the effects of domestication, differences between breeds of animals or types of plants from the same species are frequently greater than those between distinct species in their natural habitat. The most significant effect of domesticating animals is a major shift in their seasonal biology.

Fun Fact

Some plants were domesticated especially for the production of narcotics; such a plant is tobacco, which was probably first used by American Indian tribes for the preparation of a narcotic drink and only later for smoking.

Plants before domestication

1. Grew naturally and in the wild without human modification.
2. Usually had a smaller fruit or grain, seed dipersal, and toxic compounds
3. Suffered from Natural selection

Modern Plants

1. Have been modified by human labor to meet specific human needs.
2. Artificial selection breaks down precisely these stabilized systems, thereby creating gene combinations that could not survive in nature and providing a range of new possibilities.

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Animals before domestication

1. Their behaviors, instincts, and genetic makeup have been shaped by the need to survive in their natural environment.
2. Most animals had predator instincts before they were taken into human care.
3. An individual wild animal may be tamed, but they are not truly domesticated and remain genetically wild.

Modern Animals

1. Raised for food, work, clothing, or medical uses.
2. Many species became smaller than their wild ancestors.
3. Have been born and bred to live alongside humans for many generations.

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Timeline

Horse 3,500 BCE

Sheep 9,000 BCE

Cat 7,300 BCE

Dogs 13-34,000 BCE

Cow 8,300 BCE

Timeline of domestication of animals

Dogs and cats were domesticated to be pets. Sheep and cow were domesticated to be livestock. Horses were domesticated for work purposes.

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