Genetics of Behavior in Fox Model of Animal Domestication

Summary

Domestication as a special form of evolution offers valuable insight into how genomic variation contributes to complex differences in behavioral and morphological phenotypes. The silver fox (Vulpes vulpes) is taxonomically close to the dog but normally exhibit distinct patterns of aggressive and fear-aggressive behavior to humans. At the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICG) in Novosibirsk, Russia the process of animal domestication has been experimentally reconstructed and a strain of domesticated fox with behavioral patterns extremely similar to those of domestic dogs has been produced. The research program aimed to identify genetic regulation of these behaviors is under way. The Fox Experiment provides a strong support for genetics-centered view of animal domestication.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Nose to Tail: An Interdisciplinary Look at Dogs in the Past   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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