breed

Tennessee Walking Horse photo by Just chaos. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7128467 In a new study published in Physiological Genomics, researchers explored the role of genetics in the conformation of Tennessee Walking Horses. In other words, how close each animal they sampled looked to an "ideal" Tennessee Walking Horse.  According to Kylee Jo Duberstein (Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia), there are five criteria that are examined when evaluating the conformation of a horse. These include "balance, structural correctness, way of going,…
Image from: www.beagleworld.net I should have read this article before adopting my beloved pet, who is certainly not on the top 10 list of smart breeds. A cute article from pet360.com published the top 10 smart breeds according to the American Kennel Club: 1. Border collie 2. German Shepherd 3. Bloodhound 4. Beagle 5. Labrador Retriever 6. Newfoundland 7. Belgian Malinois 8. Siberian Huskies 9. Golden Retriever 10.  Australian Shepard Did your dog make the top 10? To find out what classifies these as the top 10 choices, see the article in Pet360.com
Compare the elegant grace of a running wolf with the comical shuffle of a waddling dachshund, and you begin to understand what millennia of domestication and artificial selection can do to an animal. As dachshunds develop, the growing tips of their limb bones harden early, stunting their growth and leading to a type of dwarfism called chondrodysplasia. The same applies to at least 19 modern breeds including corgis, Pekingese and basset hounds, all of which have very short, curved legs. These breeds highlight the domestic dog's status as the most physically diverse of mammals. Now, a team of…