Domestic foxes , domesticated foxes , tame foxes are a group of domesticated foxes bred during a long experiment at the Novosibirsk Institute of Cytology and Genetics [1] .
| Group of animals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title | |
| Domestic foxes, domestic foxes | |
| Title Status | |
| not determined | |
| Parent taxon | |
| Species Common Fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) | |
The fox domestication experiment was started in 1959 by Soviet geneticist Dmitry Belyaev and animal behavior specialist Lyudmila Trut . The basis was a population of silver-black foxes (a breed of red, or ordinary, foxes ), which for several generations were selected according to the degree of obedience to humans. As a result, a group of foxes similar in behavior to dogs was bred — they exhibit more social behavior with both other individuals and people, are more playful and friendly, and also retain youthful features in adulthood [2] . Although the selection was carried out only on the lines of behavior, there were external changes. As a result of the partial loss of melanin in domesticated foxes, white spots began to appear in the color, and in some eyes turned blue. Also began to meet curled tails and drooping ears. Researchers attribute such changes to lower levels of adrenaline [3] .
At the end of 2011, the media published information about the sale of domesticated foxes to private individuals, sales of foxes abroad were started earlier. The bones of foxes are thinner than dogs, so you need to treat them even more carefully. They live in America, Germany, the Netherlands. Their behavior is close to that of a dog, but foxes remain as independent as cats [4] . Before selling foxes sterilized.
Content
Domestication Genetics
The result of the 60-year “Belyaev experiment” on domestication of a fox was the decoding of the genome of a domesticated fox and its comparison with the genome of a wild fox, which revealed that friendly affectionate behavior towards humans and the lack of aggressiveness in foxes are determined by a mutation of the SorCS1 gene [5] . The "home" version of the SorCS1 gene is found only in the friendliest foxes and regulates the proteins involved in signaling between neurons of the central nervous system. It has been shown that the gene is responsible for the fox’s desire to continue communicating with the person when he spent some time with her and is about to leave [5] . In addition, sections of the genome were found that are responsible for the Belyaevsky foxes for the joy of communicating with a person, the love of touch, stroking, and other features of domesticated behavior. Thus, it was shown that the mechanism of the domestication process is determined by genetic changes [6] .
Domesticated Fox Monument
- In honor of the centenary of the birth of Dmitry Belyaev , a monument was opened next to the ICIG SB RAS , on which a domesticated fox gives the scientist a paw and wags his tail. Konstantin Zinich, sculptor (Krasnoyarsk): “The philosophy of touching a fox and a person is rapprochement, kindness, there is no kind of aggression on the part of the fox - it was wild, and he made it genetically homemade” [7] .
Gallery
Domestic fox walk
Domestic fox in aviary
Loyalty of Novosibirsk foxes
Notes
- ↑ New Scientist: My little zebra: The secrets of domestication
- ↑ Fox Domestication
- ↑ Nature: Genetics of Dog Breeding
- ↑ In Novosibirsk, sales of domestic foxes began
- ↑ 1 2 Kukekova Anna V. New perspectives of the fox model in the study of behavior genetics (Russian) // Nature. - 2019-01-14. - Vol. 12 . - S. 3–11 . - ISSN 0032-874X . - DOI : 10.31857 / S0032874X0003326-7 .
- ↑ In Russia, bred foxes who love people at the genetic level . RIA Novosti (20190527T0800 + 0300Z). Circulation date May 27, 2019.
- ↑ A monument to a scientist with a good fox was opened in Novosibirsk