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Domestication is a gradual process, so there is no precise moment in the history of a given species when it can be considered to have become fully domesticated. Zooarchaeology has identified three classes of animal domesticates: Pets (dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, etc.) Livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, etc.)
Domestic mink (Neogale vison domesticus), also known as domestic American mink, are a domesticated, carnivorous mammal, bred for hunting and pest control. Domestic mink differ from their wild ancestors, the American mink , in fur colour, size, thicker pelts, and higher tranquility. [ 1 ]
Bovids range in size from the 38 cm (15 in) long royal antelope to the 3.3 m (11 ft) long gaur, which can reach 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) in weight. [1] Over a billion each of domesticated sheep , cattle , and goats , and over 200 million domesticated water buffalo , 14 million domestic yak , and 300,000 domesticated gayal are used in farming worldwide.
Excepting some domesticated forms, all male bovids have horns, and in many species, females, too, possess horns. The size and shape of the horns vary greatly, but the basic structure is a pair of simple bony protrusions without branches, often having a spiral, twisted, or fluted form, each covered in a permanent sheath of keratin.
Because the evolution of domestic animals is ongoing, the process of domestication has a beginning but not an end. Various criteria have been established to provide a definition of domestic animals, but all decisions about exactly when an animal can be labelled "domesticated" in the zoological sense are arbitrary, although potentially useful. [45]
Size of Paraceratherium (dark grey) compared to a human and other rhinos (though one study suggests Palaeoloxodon namadicus may have been a larger land mammal). The blue whale is the largest mammal of all time, with the longest known specimen being 33 m (108.3 ft) long and the heaviest weighted specimen being 190 tonnes.
Domestication (not to be confused with the taming of an individual animal [3] [4] [5]), is from the Latin domesticus, 'belonging to the house'. [6] The term remained loosely defined until the 21st century, when the American archaeologist Melinda A. Zeder defined it as a long-term relationship in which humans take over control and care of another organism to gain a predictable supply of a ...
A member of this family is also called a canid (/ ˈ k eɪ n ɪ d /). [4] The family includes three subfamilies: the Caninae, and the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. [5] The Caninae are known as canines, [6] and include domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other species.