On May 10, 2014, at 2:13 PM, Knapp <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

> Not to sure if Rob or Tim wrote this.
> How many generations did it take to turn a wolf into a chiwawa?
>

1) That was not evolution, that was a directed breeding program

2) Canines, especially dogs, seem to have only a few genes controlling a lot pf physical characteristics it’s easy to turn the basic dog into a Great Dane or Chihuahua. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100810203503.htm>

3) The domestication of canids seems to have taken only a few canid generations, if current thinking is correct. It’s already been seen in experimental evidence <https://www.americanscientist.org/issues/issue.aspx?id=813&y=0&no&content=true&page=3&css=print>

Current thought holds that prior to domestication there already was a sorting of wild canids into groups more and less afraid of humans. The ones that were less afraid were the less aggressive ones, (like breeding for less aggressive foxes), and fed off of human garbage dumps close to human groups, almost a ’self-domestication’ process.

These canids were amenable to domestication, and since adoption of dogs into the group would rapidly benefit the human groups with greater hunting and security success, the practice spread rapidly.

We have archaeological evidence of canid domestication occurring within one or two human generations.

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs