domestication
The Thoughtful Animal
Tag archives for domestication
A horse is a horse, of course of course
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on July 26, 2010 In general, the ability to attribute attention to others seems important: it allows an animal to notice the presence of other individuals (whether conspecifics, prey, or predators) as well as important locations or events by following the body orientation or eyegaze of others. We’ve spent a lot of time here at The Thoughtful Animal thinking…
Want A Pet Fox?
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on June 24, 2010 You can have a pet domesticated fox of your very own – from the Russian fox farm I’ve previously written about – for the low low price of just $5,950. Figure 1: Isn’t he cute? Click to embiggen. Check it out.
How Specific Are The Social Skills of Dogs?
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on June 16, 2010 Dogs are particularly good at tasks that involve communicating or cooperating with humans, which has led some researchers to speculate that they are really good at solving social tasks, more generally. For example, dogs can figure out where a human’s attention is, are really good at picking up on eye-gaze and finger pointing cues, distinguish…
Monday Pets: The Russian Fox Study
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on June 14, 2010 I’ve decided I want to cover some recent research on social cognition in domesticated dogs. But first, we need some background. So here’s a repost from the old blog. Today I want to tell you about one of my most favorite studies, ever, of animals. Are you ready? It’s a FIFTY YEAR LONG longitudinal study…
Monday Pets: Dumb Guinea Pigs? (The I Just Got Back From APS Edition)
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on May 31, 2010 Zen recently wrote mentioned this study on his blog, so I thought it was time to dredge it out of the archives. Also, I’ve just returned from APS (see my daily recaps here here and here), and I am TIRED. Domestic animals and their wild counterparts can be different in big ways; there can be…
Monday Pets: Where Did Cats Come From?
Posted by Jason G. Goldman on May 3, 2010 Let me tell you a little story. When I was born my parents had two cats. One was named Garfield. The other…well, I don’t remember what the other one was called. Not long after I was born, and little Jason was coughing up furballs, the doctors informed the parents that their little bundle of skin…