A recent study by Communications Biology explores how the gut microbiome may play a role in animal domestication by influencing behavior. Using foxes from the Belyaev Farm-Fox Experiment, researchers compared gut bacteria between “tame” foxes (friendly toward humans) and “aggressive” foxes.
They found that tame foxes had lower gut microbial diversity and a reduction in bacteria linked to fear and aggression. Additionally, the microbiome of tame foxes showed enrichment in pathways like glutamate degradation, which is important because glutamate is a neurotransmitter involved in brain signaling and behavior.
Since all foxes were raised in the same environment and given identical diets, these differences suggest that behavioral selection (tameness vs aggression) is linked to changes in the gut microbiome, not just genetics or environment. The study highlights the importance of the microbiota–gut–brain axis, a system where gut microbes can influence brain function through metabolites, immune signaling, and even gene expression.
I think this is really interesting because we usually think behavior is controlled only by genes or the brain, but this shows that bacteria in your gut might also play a role. It kind of changes how we think about evolution and domestication—not just as changes in DNA, but also changes in the microbiome.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-09717-5
Additional Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/25201-gut-microbiome
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