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The domestication of plants and animals over the past 11,500 years has had a significant effect not just on the domesticated taxa but also on human evolution and on the biosphere as a whole. Decades of research into the geographical and chronological origins of domestic animals have led to a general understanding of the pattern and process of domestication, though a number of significant questions remain unresolved. Here, building upon recent theoretical advances regarding the different pathways animals followed to become domesticated, we present a large-scale synthesis that addresses the global pattern of animal domestication alongside a discussion of the differential evolutionary processes that have shaped domestic animal populations. More specifically, we present a framework for understanding how unconscious selection characterized the earliest steps of animal domestication and the role of introgression and the importance of relaxed and positive selection in shaping modern domestic phenotypes and genomes.

The TseTse fly is unique to Africa and transmits a parasite harmful to humans and lethal to livestock This paper tests the hypothesis that the TseTse reduced the ability of Africans to generate an agricultural surplus historically. Ethnic groups inhabiting TseTse-suitable areas were less likely to use domesticated animals and the plow, less likely to be politically centralized, and had a lower population density. These correlations are not found in the tropics outside of Africa, where the fly does not exist. The evidence suggests current economic performance is affected by the TseTse through the channel of precolonial political centralization.

The original edition was the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which animals can assist therapists with treatment of specific populations, and/or in specific settings. The second edition continues in this vein, with 7 new chapters plus substantial revisions of continuing chapters as the research in this field has grown. New coverage includes: Animals as social supports, Use of AAT with Special Needs students, the role of animals in the family- insights for clinicians, and measuring the animal-person bond.

Over the past 11,000 years humans have brought a wide variety of animals under domestication. Domestic animals belong to all Linnaean animal classes—mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and even, arguably, bacteria. Raised for food, secondary products, labor, and companionship, domestic animals have become intricately woven into human economy, society, and religion. Animal domestication is an on-going process, as humans, with increasingly sophisticated technology for breeding and rearing animals in captivity, continue to bring more and more species under their control. Understanding the process of animal domestication and its reciprocal impacts on humans and animal domesticates requires a multidisciplinary approach. This paper brings together recent research in archaeology, genetics, and animal sciences in a discussion of the process of domestication, its impact on animal domesticates, and the various pathways humans and their animal partners have followed into domestication.

Understanding individual attitudes and how these predict overt opposition to predator conservation or direct, covert action against predators will help to recover and maintain them. Studies of attitudes toward wild animals rely primarily on samples of individuals at a single time point. We examined longitudinal change in individuals' attitudes toward gray wolves (Canis lupus). In the contiguous United States, amidst persistent controversy and opposition, abundances of gray wolves are at their highest in 60 years. We used mailed surveys to sample 1892 residents of Wisconsin in 2001 or 2004 and then resampled 656 of these individuals who resided in wolf range in 2009. Our study spanned a period of policy shifts and increasing wolf abundance. Over time, the 656 respondents increased agreement with statements reflecting fear of wolves, the belief that wolves compete with hunters for deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and inclination to poach a wolf. Endorsement of lethal control of wolves by the state and public hunting of wolves also increased. Neither the time span over which respondents reported exposure to wolves locally nor self-reported losses of domestic animals to wolves correlated with changes in attitude. We predict future increases in legal and illegal killing of wolves that may reduce their abundance in Wisconsin unless interventions are implemented to improve attitudes and behavior toward wolves. To assess whether interventions change attitudes, longitudinal studies like ours are needed. El entendimiento de las actitudes individuales y la forma en que predicen oposición abierta a la conservación de depredadores o acción directa encubierta contra depredadores ayudará a recuperarlos y mantenerlos. Los estudios de actitudes hacia animales silvestres se basan principalmente en muestreos de individuos en un solo momento. Examinamos el cambio longitudinal en las actitudes de individuos hacia lobos grises (Canis lupus). En Estados Unidos, en medio de controversia y oposición persistentes, las abundancias de lobos grises están en su mayor punto en 60 años. Utilizamos encuestas enviadas por correo para muestrear 1892 residentes de Wisconsin en 2001 o 2004 y posteriormente muestreamos nuevamente a 656 de esos individuos que residían en áreas con lobos en 2009. Nuestro estudio abarcó un período de cambios en las políticas e incremento en la abundancia de lobos. En el tiempo, 656 encuestados incrementaron su acuerdo con afirmaciones que reflejan el temor a lobos, su creencia de que los lobos compiten con cazadores por venados (Odocoileus virginianus) y su inclinación por cazar un lobo furtivamente. También incrementó el respaldo por el control letal de lobos por el estado, así como la cacería pública de lobos. No hubo correlación entre los cambios de actitud con el período de tiempo en el cual los encuestados reportaron exposición local a lobos ni con el reporte de pérdida de animales domésticos causada por lobos. Pronosticamos mayores incrementos en la matanza legal e ilegal de lobos, lo cual puede reducir su abundancia en Wisconsin a menos que se implementen intervenciones para mejorar las actitudes y comportamiento hacia los lobos. Para evaluar si las intervenciones cambian las actitudes, se requieren estudios longitudinales como el nuestro.

Diseases that are transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans are referred to as zoonotic diseases. Although microbial agents such as bacteria and parasites are linked to zoonotic events, viruses account for a high percentage of zoonotic diseases that have emerged. Worryingly, the 21st century has seen a drastic increase in the emergence and re-emergence of viral zoonotic disease. Even though humans and animals have coexisted for millennia, anthropogenic factors have severely increased interactions between the two populations, thereby increasing the risk of disease spill-over. While drivers such as climate shifts, land exploitation and wildlife trade can directly affect the (re-)emergence of viral zoonotic disease, globalisation, geopolitics and social perceptions can directly facilitate the spread of these (re-)emerging diseases. This opinion paper discusses the “intelligent” nature of viruses and their exploitation of the anthropogenic factors driving the (re-)emergence and spread of viral zoonotic disease in a modernised and connected world.

After a century of research, there is still no widely accepted explanation for the spread of farming in Europe. Top-down explanations stress climate change, population increase, or geographic diffusion, but they distort human action reductionistically. Bottom-up explanations stress the local, meaningful choices involved in becoming a farmer, but they do not account for why the Neolithic transition in Europe was so widespread and generally unidirectional. The real problem is theoretical; we need to consider the transformative effects of human–material culture relationships and to relate humans, things, and environments at multiple scales. This article views the Neolithic as a set of new human-material relationships which were experimented with variably but which had unintended consequences resulting in an increasingly coherent, structured, and narrowly based social world. This interplay of local human action and emergent causation made the Neolithic transition difficult to reverse locally; the Neolithic was easy to get into but hard to get out of. On the continental scale, one consequence of this was its slow, patchy, but steady and ultimately almost complete expansion across Europe. As a metamodel, this accommodates current models of the local origin of farming while linking these to emergent large-scale historical patterns.

Honey bees occupy a pivotal role in safeguarding ecological balance and bolstering the global agricultural economy through their indispensable pollination services. As the foremost commercial pollinator and producer of bee products, the western honey bees, Apis mellifera, have been extensively domesticated and managed worldwide. To harness their potential and enhance production traits, selective breeding practices are commonly implemented under human management. Nevertheless, despite the significance of these efforts, the foundational theories and concepts that underpin honey bee breeding remain fragmented. In this paper, we discuss the biological taxonomy of A. mellifera and the pertinent issues therein, emphasizing the necessity to recognize it as a domesticated animal and elucidate the concepts associated with livestock breeding. Drawing upon recent advances in the studies of honey bees and other domesticated species, we review the progress and challenges encountered in utilizing traditional breeding methods, which rely on phenotypic selection and natural mating, as well as marker‐assisted selections integrating modern biotechnological tools at the molecular level. Moreover, the utilization of gene‐editing tools in honey bee breeding is prospected, and the importance of reconciling bee breeding practices with conservation strategies is highlighted. Future research endeavors are anticipated to decipher the intricate genetic architecture underlying honey bee traits and develop precise genetic markers while weighing the ecological consequences of these breeding interventions. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and relentless innovation, robust technological support can be established to restore and protect honey bee populations, thereby ensuring the sustained vitality and contribution of this precious natural resource to our planet. Our work clarifies concepts related to honey bee classification, reviews traditional and modern breeding techniques, explores advancements in molecular breeding, prospects gene‐editing tools, and advocates for integrated breeding strategies to ensure the long‐term sustainability and vitality of honey bee populations amid declining managed populations.

The Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) estimates that fungal diseases kill around 150 people each hour, and yet they are globally overlooked and neglected. Histoplasma and Talaromyces, which are associated with wildlife, cause systemic infections that are often lethal in patients with impaired cellular immunity. Dermatophytes that cause outbreaks in human hosts are often associated with domesticated animals. Changes in human behavior have been identified as a main cause of the emergence of animal-associated fungal diseases in humans, sometimes caused by the disturbance of natural habitats. An understanding of ecology and the transmission modes of causative agents is therefore essential. Here, we focus on fungal diseases contracted from wildlife and domesticated animals, their habitats, feces and carcasses. We discuss some basic fungal lifestyles and the risk of transmission to humans and illustrate these with examples from emerging and established diseases.

Animal domestication was an important stage in the human history, which coincided with or probably even promoted the advent of a turning point at which part of the humankind switched from hunting and gathering to husbandry. The leading factor in evolutionary changes at the dawn of domestication was probably selection for behavior towards humans: first natural (as the animals were habituating to a new ecological niche close to humans), then nonconscious, artificial. Selection was supposed to work on the systems that regulate behavior by reducing stress response and aggression and by inducing an emotionally positive response to humans. A possible role of the neuropeptides adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), oxytocin (ОТ), arginine vasopressin (AVP), and their receptors is in the reduction in stress response and in the shaping of domestic behavior. Effects of oxytocin on the behavior of domestic animals have been actively explored in the last 10 years, with special focus on the dog. The results obtained so far suggest that this neuropeptide is substantially important for human-canine interactions, together with sex, amount of aggression experienced, and other factors. The study of AVP demonstrated its importance in aggression in domestic animals. This work lends support to the hypothesis that a substantial factor in the shaping of domestic behavior and in the reduction in stress-response might be selection for an enhanced activity of the central OT system and a reduced activity of the central AVP system, which have effects on ACTH and social behavior.