Dog domestication may have inadvertently lead to harmful genetic changes. Domesticating the dogs from gray wolves involved artificial selection and inbreeding. Artificial selection is the selection of a specific trait, such as smaller body size or smaller head size. These have caused many complications for the dogs. It has also caused a temporary reduction of population size known as bottlenecks.
"Population bottlenecks tied to domestication, rather than recent inbreeding, likely led to an increased frequency of deleterious genetic variations in dogs," said Kirk Lohmueller, senior author of the research and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biolgy in the UCLA College.They have discovered that the use of small populations artificially bred for desired traits may have lead to multiple harmful genetic variation in dogs.
This article was not too informative on how it would harm the dogs, but they have only researched this so much. They cannot give a definitive answer right away. I thought this was rather informative either way, because not a lot of people realize that their dog can be at a much higher risk if it is not bred correctly. I have seen pitbull and chihuahua mixes before. That cannot be a healthy dog.
I just read an article about cheetahs that also underwent multiple bottlenecks. And because of that, they are endangered. Hopefully that isn't the case for dogs. Both of these articles prove how bottlenecks are really bad for any species. It is so sad.
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad and unnatural, I read a story the other day on "tea-cup" puppies and how they are in higher demand because of their cute size. These poor animals are being bred with the weaklings of their litter just to remain a certain size. Then the owners complain when their pup has organ failure due to its inability to properly function.
ReplyDeleteI always found it interesting how people are so quick to judge a breed based on its "cuteness" rather than its physical state. One huge example that comes to mind is pugs. The breed has become more and more popular but people don't take into consideration the health problems these dogs are at risk for until it is too late. Their smushed faces certainly are cute but personally I don't find them cute enough to shell out money when they develop respiratory issues. Give me a dog that will last by my side happy and healthy for many years to come. Then again, these days it is increasingly hard to find a breed of dog that has not been "altered" in some way which really is sad.
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