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domestication

thumb|upright=1.5|Dogs and [[sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated, at least 15,000 and 11,000 years ago respectively.]] thumb|upright=1.5|Rice was domesticated in China, some 9,000 years ago.

AI overview

Domestication is the process by which humans selectively breed wild animals and plants over many generations, changing them to be more useful and manageable for human purposes. This practice began thousands of years ago—for example, dogs and sheep were domesticated at least 15,000 and 11,000 years ago respectively, and rice was domesticated in China around 9,000 years ago—making it one of humanity's most important developments for creating stable food sources and working relationships with other species.

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Research

154,174 papers

What is domestication?ReviewTrends in ecology & evolution · 2022Purugganan MDDOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.04.006
Yeast domestication.ReviewCurrent biology : CB · 2025Sampaio JP, Pontes ADOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.056
Plant domestication and agricultural ecologies.ReviewCurrent biology : CB · 2023Fuller DQ, Denham T, Allaby RDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.038
De-Domestication: An Extension of Crop Evolution.ReviewTrends in plant science · 2021Wu D, Lao S, Fan LDOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.02.003
Domestication and the comparative embryology of birds.ReviewJournal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2022Cordero GA, Werneburg IDOI: 10.1002/jez.b.23144
The evolutionary neuroscience of domestication.ReviewTrends in cognitive sciences · 2023Hecht EE, Barton SA, Rogers Flattery CN et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.03.008
De novo domestication: what about the weeds?ReviewTrends in plant science · 2024Correia PMP, Najafi J, Palmgren MDOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2024.03.001
Effects of Domestication on Plant-Microbiome Interactions.ReviewPlant & cell physiology · 2022Gutierrez A, Grillo MADOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcac108

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Wikidata facts

Image: Domestication Timeline.jpg

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Commons category: Domesticated animals

Sources (5)

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~28 min read

Article

24 sections

Contents

Definitions
Cause and timing
Animals
Desirable traits
Mammals
Birds
Invertebrates
Plants
Differences from wild plants
Changes to plant genome
Impact on plant microbiome
Fungi
Effects
On domestic animals and pathogens
On society
On diversity
Domestication by insects
Ambrosia beetles
Leafcutter ants
Fungus-growing termites
See also
References
Sources
External links

Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor. The process is gradual and geographically diffuse, based on trial and error. Domestication affects genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive. In plants, domestication affects genes for morphology, such as increasing seed size and stopping the shattering of cereal seedheads. Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in the wild.