Episode 470 – The Evolution of Domestication

 

The co-evolution of dogs and humans is a recurrent theme of mine, but where does the evolution of domestication fit in? This podcast resulted from my ruminations on that subject in my favorite think tank: the great outdoors. The more I thought about it, the more outrageous and yet somewhat logical my thoughts seemed to me. I’ll let you decide whether I’ve been out in the sun too long or whether convention has created yet another gap between humans and other animal species where none exists.

The inspiration for this podcast comes from three sources:

Absolute Brain Size Matters: A conversation with Brian Hare on Edge.org

Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution by Raymond Coppinger and Lorna Coppinger

“The Secret Price of Pets” by Peter Haldeman published in the New York Times