Sunday, January 24, 2010

How wolves became dogs

Thanks - Beautiful excerpt from Richard Dawkins new book The Greatest Show on Earth. A humbling remainder how my bond with Max evolved thousands of years ago.

"
We can imagine wild wolves scavenging on a rubbish tip on the edge of a village. Most of them, fearful of men throwing stones and spears, have a very long flight distance. They sprint for the safety of the forest as soon as a human appears in the distance. But a few individuals, by genetic chance, happen to have a slightly shorter flight distance than the average. Their readiness to take slight risks -- they are brave, shall we say, but not foolhardy -- gains them more food than their more risk-averse rivals. As the generations go by, natural selection favours a shorter and shorter flight distance, until just before it reaches the point where the wolves really are endangered by stonethrowing humans. The optimum flight distance has shifted because of the newly available food source."

Great coincidence since I was watching Richard Dawkins on TED last night.


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