![]() , is that selection for tameness acts specifically on genes that affect the formation, differentiation and migration patterns of neural crest cells (hereafter referred to as “neural crest cell genes”), especially genes influencing the migration of neural crest cells. Given this assumption, the key question becomes: why does selection on this aspect of behavior affect a broad yet specific set of traits, including behavior, morphology, and physiology? They take as their starting point the assumption that selection for tameness is the sine qua non of domestication: the idea that all successful instances of domestication involve the cumulative effects of selection for reduced aggression, generation after generation for a prolonged period. ![]() have proposed a novel theory that purports to explain why all of these seemingly disparate features are connected. ![]() The association between domestication and a seemingly unconnected suite of characters was noted and investigated by, but continues to be a topic of scientific debate to the present. In addition to tameness (reduced reactive aggression), these traits include other elements of behavior (such as prolongation of juvenile behavior), and aspects of morphology (brain and tooth size, ear and tail size and shape, craniofacial structure), and physiology (levels of andrenocorticotropic hormones and neurotransmitters, frequency of estrus cycles). The “domestication syndrome” refers to an apparently disconnected set of phenotypic traits that appear to characterize domesticated species, in comparison with their wild relatives. ![]()
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