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124-461: Mustela putorius furo Linnaeus, 1758 The ferret ( Mustela furo ) is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae . The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat ( Mustela putorius ), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to interbreed with European polecats and produce hybrid offspring. Physically, ferrets resemble other mustelids because of their long, slender bodies. Including their tail ,

248-472: A dental formula of 3.1.4.1 3.1.4.2 : Ferrets are known to suffer from several distinct health problems. Among the most common are cancers affecting the adrenal glands , pancreas and lymphatic system . Adrenal disease, a growth of the adrenal glands that can be either hyperplasia or cancer, is most often diagnosed by signs like unusual hair loss, increased aggression, and difficulty urinating or defecating. Treatment options include surgery to excise

372-420: A "broad" definition: "a coevolutionary process that arises from a mutualism, in which one species (the domesticator) constructs an environment where it actively manages both the survival and reproduction of another species (the domesticate) in order to provide the former with resources and/or services." He comments that this adds niche construction to the activities of the domesticator. Domestication syndrome

496-570: A blaze, badger, or panda coat, such as a stripe extending from their face down the back of their head to their shoulder blades, or a fully white head, have a congenital deafness (partial or total) which is similar to Waardenburg syndrome in humans. Ferrets without white markings, but with premature graying of the coat, are also more likely to have some deafness than ferrets with solid coat colors which do not show this trait. Most albino ferrets are not deaf; if deafness does occur in an albino ferret, this may be due to an underlying white coat pattern which

620-399: A combination of both visual and olfactory advertising of the territory. The male ring-tailed lemur has a specialised adaptation to assist in leaving visual/olfactory territorial marks. On their inner forearm (antebrachial) is a scent gland which is covered by a spur . In a behaviour called "spur marking", they grasp the substrate, usually a small sapling, and drag the spur over it, cutting into

744-498: A day asleep and are most active around the hours of dawn and dusk, meaning they are crepuscular . If they are caged, they should be taken out daily to exercise and satisfy their curiosity; they need at least an hour and a place to play. Unlike their polecat ancestors, which are solitary animals, most ferrets will live happily in social groups. They are territorial, like to burrow, and prefer to sleep in an enclosed area. Like many other mustelids, ferrets have scent glands near their anus,

868-621: A facultative purpose for this species, in which the more fragrance-rich sites there are, the greater the number of habitable territories. Since these territories are aggregated, females have a large selection of males with whom to potentially mate within the aggregation, giving females the power of mate choice . Similar behaviour is also observed in the Eulaema meriana orchid bee. Males in this species of bee show alternative behaviours of territoriality and transiency. Transient male bees did not defend territories, but instead flew from one territory to

992-622: A ferret have yet been found, nor any hieroglyph of a ferret, and no polecat now occurs wild in the area, that idea seems unlikely. The American Society of Mammalogists classifies M. furo as a distinct species. Ferrets were probably used by the Romans for hunting. Genghis Khan , ruler of the Mongol Empire , is recorded as using ferrets in a gigantic hunt in 1221 that aimed to purge an entire region of wild animals. Colonies of feral ferrets have established themselves in areas where there

1116-860: A few have been domesticated, including squid , cuttlefish and octopus , all used in research on behaviour and neurology . Terrestrial snails in the genera Helix are raised for food. Several parasitic or parasitoidal insects, including the fly Eucelatoria , the beetle Chrysolina , and the wasp Aphytis are raised for biological control. Conscious or unconscious artificial selection has many effects on species under domestication; variability can readily be lost by inbreeding, selection against undesired traits, or genetic drift, while in Drosophila , variability in eclosion time (when adults emerge) has increased. Humans foraged for wild cereals, seeds, and nuts thousands of years before they were domesticated; wild wheat and barley, for example, were gathered in

1240-525: A good rural habitat, but as large as 300 hectares (740 acres) in a poor habitat. On average, a territory may be approximately 50 hectares (120 acres), with main setts normally at least 500 metres (1,600 ft) apart. In urban areas, territories can be as small as 5 hectares (12 acres), if they can obtain enough food from bird tables, food waste or artificial feeding in suburban gardens. Spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) have highly variable territory sizes, ranging from less than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) in

1364-562: A joyful invitation to play. It is often accompanied by a unique soft clucking noise, commonly referred to as "dooking". When scared, ferrets will hiss; when upset, they squeak softly. Ferrets are obligate carnivores . The natural diet of their wild ancestors consisted of whole small prey, including meat, organs, bones, skin, feathers and fur. Ferrets have short digestive systems and a quick metabolism, so they need to eat frequently. Prepared dry foods consisting almost entirely of meat (including high-grade cat food , although specialized ferret food

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1488-559: A likely reference to the common ferret penchant for secreting away small items. In Old English (Anglo-Saxon), the animal was called mearþ . The word fyret seems to appear in Middle English in the 14th century from the Latin, with the modern spelling of "ferret" by the 16th century. The Greek word ἴκτις íktis , Latinized as ictis occurs in a play written by Aristophanes , The Acharnians , in 425 BC. Whether this

1612-484: A means of communication between far-flung places through the exploitation of the pigeon's homing instinct; research suggests it was domesticated as early as 10,000 years ago. Chicken fossils in China have been dated to 7,400 years ago. The chicken's wild ancestor is Gallus gallus , the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia. The species appears to have been kept initially for cockfighting rather than for food. Two insects ,

1736-412: A nasty neighbour strategy. Group-living male breeders are nearly five times more aggressive towards their neighbours than towards strangers, leading to the prediction that neighbours are the most important competitors for paternity. Using a molecular parentage analysis it has been shown that 28% of offspring are sired by neighbouring males and only 7% by strangers. In certain species of butterflies, such as

1860-496: A particularly important animal model for human influenza , and have been used to study the 2009 H1N1 ( swine flu ) virus. Ferrets inoculated intra-nasally with human naso-pharyngeal washes develop an influenza transmissible to other cage mates and human investigators. A very small experimental study of ferrets found that a nasal spray effectively blocked the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19 . In

1984-428: A perspective. Several other type of resource may be defended including partners, potential mates, offspring, nests or lairs, display areas or leks . Territoriality emerges where there is a focused resource that provides enough for the individual or group, within a boundary that is small enough to be defended without the expenditure of excessive effort. Territoriality is often most strong towards conspecifics , as shown in

2108-468: A population bottleneck where genetic drift is enhanced by the small population size. Mutations can also be fixed in a population by a selective sweep . Mutational load can be increased by reduced selective pressure against moderately harmful traits when reproductive fitness is controlled by human management. However, there is evidence against a bottleneck in crops, such as barley, maize, and sorghum, where genetic diversity slowly declined rather than showing

2232-779: A predictable supply of a resource, resulting in mutual benefits . She noted further that it is not synonymous with agriculture since agriculture depends on domesticated organisms but does not automatically result from domestication. Michael D. Purugganan notes that domestication has been hard to define, despite the "instinctual consensus" that it means "the plants and animals found under the care of humans that provide us with benefits and which have evolved under our control." He comments that insects such as termites , ambrosia beetles , and leafcutter ants have domesticated some species of fungi , and notes further that other groups such as weeds and commensals have wrongly been called domesticated. Starting from Zeder's definition, Purugganan proposes

2356-425: A protracted coevolutionary process with multiple stages along different pathways. There are three proposed major pathways that most mammal domesticates followed into domestication: Humans did not intend to domesticate mammals from either the commensal or prey pathways, or at least they did not envision a domesticated animal would result from it. In both of those cases, humans became entangled with these species as

2480-575: A rapid initial fall at the point of domestication. Further, the genetic diversity of these crops was regularly replenished from the natural population. Similar evidence exists for horses, pigs, cows, and goats. At least three groups of insects, namely ambrosia beetles, leafcutter ants, and fungus-growing termites, have domesticated species of fungi . Ambrosia beetles in the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae excavate tunnels in dead or stressed trees into which they introduce fungal gardens, their sole source of nutrition. After landing on

2604-457: A steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor. The process is gradual and geographically diffuse, based on trial and error. Domestication affected genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive. In plants, domestication affected genes for morphology, such as increasing seed size and stopping the shattering of cereal seedheads. Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in

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2728-588: A strategy termed the dear enemy effect in which two neighbouring territorial animals become less aggressive toward one another once territorial borders are well-established and they are familiar to each other, but aggression toward unfamiliar animals remains unaffected. The converse of this is the nasty neighbour effect in which a territory-holder shows heightened aggression toward neighbouring territory-holders but unaffected aggression to unfamiliar animals or distant territory-holders. These contrasting strategies depend on which intruder (familiar or unfamiliar) poses

2852-402: A suitable tree, an ambrosia beetle excavates a tunnel in which it releases its fungal symbiont . The fungus penetrates the plant's xylem tissue, extracts nutrients from it, and concentrates the nutrients on and near the surface of the beetle gallery. Ambrosia fungi are typically poor wood degraders and instead utilize less demanding nutrients. Symbiotic fungi produce and detoxify ethanol, which

2976-403: A typical mustelid body-shape, being long and slender. Their average length is about 50 cm (20 in) including a 13 cm (5.1 in) tail. Their pelage has various colorations including brown, black, white or mixed. They weigh between 0.7 and 2.0 kg (1.5 and 4.4 lb) and are sexually dimorphic as the males are substantially larger than females. The average gestation period

3100-656: A wide variety of colors and patterns. Color refers to the color of the ferret's guard hairs, undercoat, eyes and nose; pattern refers to the concentration and distribution of color on the body, mask and nose, as well as white markings on the head or feet when present. Some national organizations, such as the American Ferret Association, have attempted to classify these variations in their showing standards. There are four basic colors. The sable (including chocolate and dark brown), albino, dark-eyed white (DEW, also known as black-eyed white or BEW) and silver. All

3224-474: A working animal. Among invertebrates , the silkworm and the western honey bee were domesticated over 5,000 years ago for silk and honey , respectively. The domestication of plants began around 13,000–11,000 years ago with cereals such as wheat and barley in the Middle East , alongside crops such as lentil , pea , chickpea , and flax . Beginning around 10,000 years ago, Indigenous peoples in

3348-406: Is 42 days and females may have two or three litters each year. The litter size is usually between three and seven kits which are weaned after three to six weeks and become independent at three months. They become sexually mature at approximately 6 months and the average life span is 7 to 10 years. Ferrets are induced ovulators and can copulate for longer than one hour. Ferrets spend 14–18 hours

3472-450: Is a lekking reptile. Males start to establish small display territories two months ahead of the mating season. Rather than retaining a territory simply by fighting, for some animals this can be a 3-stage process. Many animals create "sign-posts" to advertise their territory. Sometimes these sign-posts are on the boundary thereby demarcating the territory, or, may be scattered throughout the territory. These communicate to other animals that

3596-421: Is a behaviour used by animals to identify their territory. Most commonly, this is accomplished by depositing strong-smelling substances contained in the urine , faeces , or, from specialised scent glands located on various areas of the body. Often, the scent contains pheromones or carrier proteins such as the major urinary proteins to stabilize the odours and maintain them for longer. The animal sniffing

3720-527: Is a large (up to 8 cm in length) limpet. It lives in association with an approximately 1,000 cm^2 area of algal film in which its grazing marks can be seen, whereas the remainder of the rock surface is usually free of any visible film. These areas of algal film represent the territories of the Lottia; within them the animals do all their grazing. They keep their territories free of other organisms by shoving off any intruders: other Lottia, grazing limpets of

3844-484: Is a series of stylised postures, vocalisations, displays, etc. which function to solve the territory dispute without actual fighting as this could injure either or both animals. Ritualized aggression often ends by one of the animals fleeing (generally the intruder). If this does not happen, the territory may be defended by actual fighting, although this is generally a last resort. Scent marking, also known as territorial marking or spraying when this involves urination ,

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3968-405: Is an attractant for ambrosia beetles and likely prevents the growth of antagonistic pathogens and selects for other beneficial symbionts. Ambrosia beetles mainly colonise wood of recently dead trees. The leafcutter ants are any of some 47 species of leaf-chewing ants in the genera Acromyrmex and Atta . The ants carry the discs of leaves that they have cut back to their nest, where they feed

4092-636: Is different from normal urination, which is done while squatting. This posture is exclusive to alpha wolves of either sex, although the alpha male does this most often. The alpha female usually urinates on a scent post that her breeding partner has just urinated on, although during the mating season, the female may first urinate on the ground. All other females in the pack, and also young wolves and low-ranking male wolves, urinate while squatting. Similar urination postures are used by coyotes and golden jackals . Males and female ring-tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta ) scent-mark both vertical and horizontal surfaces at

4216-432: Is domesticated wheat, which relies on farmers for its reproduction and dissemination. Domesticated plants differ from their wild relatives in many ways, including Plant defenses against herbivory , such as thorns, spines, and prickles , poison, protective coverings, and sturdiness may have been reduced in domesticated plants. This would make them more likely to be eaten by herbivores unless protected by humans, but there

4340-478: Is estimated as many as 75 percent of ferrets with these Waardenburg-like colorings are deaf. White ferrets were favored in the Middle Ages for the ease in seeing them in thick undergrowth. Leonardo da Vinci 's painting Lady with an Ermine is likely mislabelled; the animal is probably a ferret, not a stoat (for which "ermine" is an alternative name for the animal in its white winter coat). Similarly,

4464-414: Is increasingly available and preferable) provide the most nutritional value. Some ferret owners feed pre-killed or live prey (such as mice and rabbits) to their ferrets to more closely mimic their natural diet. Ferret digestive tracts lack a cecum and the animal is largely unable to digest plant matter. Before much was known about ferret physiology, many breeders and pet stores recommended food like fruit in

4588-457: Is laid in well defined piles. There may be 20 to 30 of these piles to alert passing rhinoceroses that it is occupied territory. Other males may deposit dung over the piles of another and subsequently the sign-post grows larger and larger. Such a dung heap can become up to five metres wide and one metre high. After defecating, greater one-horned rhinos scratch their hind feet in the dung. By continuing to walk, they "transport" their own smell around

4712-554: Is least likely with insectivorous birds, where the food supply is plentiful but unpredictably distributed. Swifts rarely defend an area larger than the nest. Conversely, other insectivorous birds that occupy more constrained territories, such as the ground-nesting blacksmith lapwing may be very territorial, especially in the breeding season during which they not only threaten or attack many kinds of intruders, but have stereotyped display behaviour to deter conspecifics sharing neighbouring nesting spots. The owl limpet ( Lottia gigantea )

4836-523: Is most common in ferrets between the ages of 4 and 5 years old. Lymphoma is the most common malignancy in ferrets. Ferret lymphosarcoma occurs in two forms— juvenile lymphosarcoma , a fast-growing type that affects ferrets younger than two years, and adult lymphosarcoma , a slower-growing form that affects ferrets four to seven years old. Viral diseases include canine distemper , influenza and ferret systemic coronavirus. A high proportion of ferrets with white markings which form coat patterns known as

4960-539: Is no competition from similarly sized predators, such as in the Shetland Islands and in remote regions in New Zealand. Where ferrets coexist with polecats, hybridization is common. It has been claimed that New Zealand has the world's largest feral population of ferret–polecat hybrids. In 1877, farmers in New Zealand demanded that ferrets be introduced into the country to control the rabbit population, which

5084-492: Is not always a fixed behavioural characteristic of a species. For example, red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) either establish stable home ranges within particular areas or are itinerant with no fixed abode . Territories may vary with time (season). For example, European robins defend territories as pairs during the breeding season but as individuals during the winter. Resource availability may cause changes in territoriality. For example, some nectarivores defend territories only during

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5208-404: Is obscured by the albinism. Health problems can occur in unspayed females when not being used for breeding. Similar to domestic cats, ferrets can also suffer from hairballs and dental problems. Ferrets will also often chew on and swallow foreign objects which can lead to bowel obstruction . In common with most domestic animals, the original reason for ferrets being domesticated by human beings

5332-669: Is only weak support for most of this. Farmers did select for reduced bitterness and lower toxicity and for food quality, which likely increased crop palatability to herbivores as to humans. However, a survey of 29 plant domestications found that crops were as well-defended against two major insect pests ( beet armyworm and green peach aphid ) both chemically (e.g. with bitter substances) and morphologically (e.g. with toughness) as their wild ancestors. During domestication, crop species undergo intense artificial selection that alters their genomes, establishing core traits that define them as domesticated, such as increased grain size. Comparison of

5456-399: Is reversed. Animals may use several strategies to defend their territories. The first game theory model of fighting is known as the hawk-dove game . This model pits a hawk strategy (always try to injure your opponent and only withdraw from the contest if an injury is received) against a dove strategy (always use a non-injurious display if the rival is another dove and always withdraw if

5580-668: Is the suite of phenotypic traits that arose during the initial domestication process and which distinguish crops from their wild ancestors . It can also mean a set of differences now observed in domesticated mammals, not necessarily reflecting the initial domestication process. The changes include increased docility and tameness, coat coloration, reductions in tooth size, craniofacial morphology, ear and tail form (e.g., floppy ears), estrus cycles, levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and neurotransmitters, prolongations in juvenile behavior, and reductions in brain size and of particular brain regions. The domestication of animals and plants

5704-725: Is today Baluchistan in Pakistan. In East Asia 8,000 years ago, pigs were domesticated from wild boar genetically different from those found in the Fertile Crescent. The cat was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps 10,000 years ago, from European wildcats , possibly to control rodents that were damaging stored food. The domestication of vertebrate animals is the relationship between non-human vertebrates and humans who have an influence on their care and reproduction. In his 1868 book The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication , Charles Darwin recognized

5828-493: Is uncertain, but it may have involved hunting. According to phylogenetic studies, the ferret was domesticated from the European polecat ( Mustela putorius ), and likely descends from a North African lineage of the species. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA suggests that ferrets were domesticated around 2,500 years ago. It has been claimed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate ferrets, but as no mummified remains of

5952-636: Is widely grown for food. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used for thousands of years to ferment beer and wine , and to leaven bread . Mould fungi including Penicillium are used to mature cheeses and other dairy products, as well as to make drugs such as antibiotics . Selection of animals for visible traits may have undesired consequences for the genetics of domestic animals. A side effect of domestication has been zoonotic diseases. For example, cattle have given humanity various viral poxes , measles , and tuberculosis ; pigs and ducks have contributed influenza ; and horses have brought

6076-483: The Australian painted lady butterfly and the speckled wood butterfly , the male defends territories that receptive females are likely to fly through such as sunny hilltops and sunspots on a forest's floor. Territory defence in male variegated pupfish ( Cyprinodon variegatus ) is dependent on the presence of females. Reduced aggression consistent with the dear enemy effect occurs between conspecific neighbours in

6200-728: The Balearic Islands to control rabbit plagues there in 6 BC; it is speculated that " viverrae " could refer to ferrets, mongooses , or polecats. In England, in 1390, a law was enacted restricting the use of ferrets for hunting to the relatively wealthy: it is ordained that no manner of layman which hath not lands to the value of forty shillings a year shall from henceforth keep any greyhound or other dog to hunt, nor shall he use ferrets, nets, heys, harepipes nor cords, nor other engines for to take or destroy deer, hares, nor conies, nor other gentlemen's game, under pain of twelve months' imprisonment. Ferrets were first introduced into

6324-718: The Indian Ocean and those in the Pacific Ocean . The coconut experienced a founder effect , where a small number of individuals with low diversity founded the modern population, permanently losing much of the genetic variation of the wild population. Population bottlenecks which reduced variation throughout the genome at some later date after domestication are evident in crops such as pearl millet , cotton , common bean and lima bean . In wheat, domestication involved repeated hybridization and polyploidy . These steps are large and essentially instantaneous changes to

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6448-634: The Levant at least 23,000 years ago. Neolithic societies in West Asia first began to cultivate and then domesticate some of these plants around 13,000 to 11,000 years ago. The founder crops of the West Asian Neolithic included cereals ( emmer , einkorn wheat , barley ), pulses ( lentil , pea , chickpea , bitter vetch ), and flax . Other plants were independently domesticated in 13 centers of origin (subdivided into 24 areas) of

6572-821: The Ngorongoro Crater to over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) in the Kalahari . In birds, golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) have territories of 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres), least flycatchers ' ( Empidonax minimus ) territories are about 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) and gulls have territories of only a few square centimetres in the immediate vicinity of the nest. Territories can be linear. Sanderlings ( Calidris alba ) forage on beaches and sandflats. When on beaches, they feed either in flocks or individual territories of 10 to 120 metres of shoreline. The time to develop territories varies between animals. The marine iguana ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus )

6696-506: The Uganda kob (a grazing antelope ) and the marine iguana, males defend the lek site which is used only for mating. Many species demonstrate polyterritoriality, referring to the act of claiming or defending more than one territory. In the European pied flycatcher ( Ficedula hypoleuca ), researchers assert that males exhibit polyterritoriality to deceive females of the species into entering into polygynous relationships. This hypothesis, named

6820-619: The coding DNA of chromosome 8 in rice between fragrant and non-fragrant varieties showed that aromatic and fragrant rice, including basmati and jasmine , is derived from an ancestral rice domesticate that suffered a deletion in exon 7 which altered the coding for betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH2). Comparison of the potato genome with that of other plants located genes for resistance to potato blight caused by Phytophthora infestans . In coconut , genomic analysis of 10 microsatellite loci (of noncoding DNA ) found two episodes of domestication based on differences between individuals in

6944-470: The domestication of wheat . Wild wheat shatters and falls to the ground to reseed itself when ripe, but domesticated wheat stays on the stem for easier harvesting. This change was possible because of a random mutation in the wild populations at the beginning of wheat's cultivation . Wheat with this mutation was harvested more frequently and became the seed for the next crop. Therefore, without realizing it, early farmers selected for this mutation. The result

7068-417: The domestication syndrome , traits presumed essential in the early stages of domestication, while others represent later improvement traits. Domesticated mammals in particular tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; other common traits are floppy ears, a smaller brain, and a shorter muzzle. Domestication traits are generally fixed within all domesticates, and were selected during

7192-437: The rhinoviruses . Many parasites , too, have their origins in domestic animals. Alongside these, the advent of domestication resulted in denser human populations, which provided ripe conditions for pathogens to reproduce, mutate, spread, and eventually find a new host in humans. Scholars have expressed widely differing viewpoints on domestication's effects on society. Anarcho-primitivism critiques domestication as destroying

7316-436: The silkworm and the western honey bee , have been domesticated for over 5,000 years, often for commercial use. The silkworm is raised for the silk threads wound around its pupal cocoon; the western honey bee, for honey , and, from the 20th century, for pollination of crops. Several other invertebrates have been domesticated, both terrestrial and aquatic, including some such as Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies and

7440-684: The American continents in the 17th century, and were used extensively from 1860 until the start of World War II to protect grain stores in the American West from rodents. They are still used for hunting in some countries, including the United Kingdom, where rabbits are considered a pest by farmers. The practice is illegal in several countries where it is feared that ferrets could unbalance the ecology. In 2009 in Finland, where ferreting

7564-555: The Americas began to cultivate peanuts , squash , maize , potatoes , cotton , and cassava . Rice was first domesticated in China some about 9,000 years ago. In Africa, crops such as sorghum were domesticated. Agriculture developed in some 13 centres around the world, domesticating different crops and animals. Three groups of insects, namely ambrosia beetles , leafcutter ants , and fungus-growing termites have independently domesticated species of fungi, on which they feed. In

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7688-592: The Americas, Africa, and Asia (the Middle East, South Asia, the Far East, and New Guinea and Wallacea); in some thirteen of these regions people began to cultivate grasses and grains. Rice was first cultivated in East Asia. Sorghum was widely cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa, while peanuts, squash, cotton, maize , potatoes , and cassava were domesticated in the Americas. Continued domestication

7812-585: The Hunt was written in approximately 1389 to explain how to hunt different kinds of animals, including how to use ferrets to hunt rabbits. Illustrations show how multicolored ferrets that were fitted with muzzles were used to chase rabbits out of their warrens and into waiting nets. Domesticated Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants , takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them

7936-595: The Late Pleistocene. Domestication reduces genetic diversity of the domesticated population, especially of alleles of genes targeted by selection. One reason is a population bottleneck created by artificially selecting the most desirable individuals to breed from. Most of the domesticated strain is then born from just a few ancestors, creating a situation similar to the founder effect . Domesticated populations such as of dogs, rice, sunflowers, maize, and horses have an increased mutation load , as expected in

8060-563: The UK, ferret racing is often a feature of rural fairs or festivals, with people placing small bets on ferrets that run set routes through pipes and wire mesh. Although financial bets are placed, the event is primarily for entertainment purposes as opposed to 'serious' betting sports such as horse or greyhound racing. Most ferrets are either albinos, with white fur and pink eyes, or display the typical dark masked sable coloration of their wild polecat ancestors. In recent years fancy breeders have produced

8184-449: The US are sold descented (with the anal glands removed). In many other parts of the world, including the UK and other European countries, de-scenting is considered an unnecessary mutilation . If excited, they may perform a behavior called the " weasel war dance ", characterized by frenzied sideways hops, leaps and bumping into nearby objects. Despite its common name, it is not aggressive but is

8308-540: The United States. Because they share many anatomical and physiological features with humans, ferrets are extensively used as experimental subjects in biomedical research. Fields such as virology, reproductive physiology, anatomy, endocrinology and neuroscience all rely on ferrets for studies into cardiovascular disease , nutrition, respiratory diseases such as SARS and human influenza, airway physiology, cystic fibrosis and gastrointestinal disease. Ferrets are

8432-408: The ability of an animal to survive and raise young. The proximate functions of territory defense vary. For some animals, the reason for such protective behaviour is to acquire and protect food sources, nesting sites, mating areas, or to attract a mate. Among birds, territories have been classified as six types. Reports of territory size can be confused by a lack of distinction between home range and

8556-506: The absence of females, but the presence of a female in a male's territory instigates comparably greater aggression between the neighbours. In the Skylark ( Alauda arvensis ), playbacks of neighbour and stranger songs at three periods of the breeding season show that neighbours are dear enemies in the middle of the season, when territories are stable, but not at the beginning of the breeding season, during settlement and pair formation, nor at

8680-432: The affected glands, melatonin or deslorelin implants, and hormone therapy. The causes of adrenal disease speculated to include unnatural light cycles, diets based around processed ferret foods, and prepubescent neutering. It has also been suggested that there may be a hereditary component to adrenal disease. Insulinoma , a type of cancer of the islet cells of the pancreas, is the most common form of cancer in ferrets. It

8804-432: The animal is present, but can travel long distances and over varied habitats. Examples of animals which use auditory signals include birds, frogs and canids. Wolves advertise their territories to other packs through a combination of scent marking and howling. Under certain conditions, wolf howls can be heard over areas of up to 130 km (50 sq mi). When howling together, wolves harmonize rather than chorus on

8928-434: The average length of a ferret is about 50 cm (20 in); they weigh between 0.7 and 2.0 kg (1.5 and 4.4 lb); and their fur can be black, brown, white, or a mixture of those colours. The species is sexually dimorphic , with males being considerably larger than females. Ferrets may have been domesticated since ancient times , but there is widespread disagreement because of the sparseness of written accounts and

9052-458: The beginning of the Holocene 11,700 years ago, a warmer climate and increasing human populations led to small-scale animal and plant domestication and an increased supply of food. The appearance of the domestic dog in the archaeological record, at least 15,000 years ago, was followed by domestication of livestock and of crops such as wheat and barley , the invention of agriculture , and

9176-582: The bird (i.e. badge) is highly visible when it sings (vocal marking) at the boundary of its territory. The ring-tailed lemur ( Lemur catta ) advertises its territory with urine scent marks. When it is urinating for marking purposes, it holds its extremely distinctive tail high in the air adding a visual component to the advertisement; when it is urinating for eliminative purposes, its tail is only slightly raised. Rhinoceros have poor vision but may use visual marking. Dominant white rhino bulls mark their territory with faeces and urine (olfactory marking). The dung

9300-434: The body with urine), to communicate. Many ungulates , for example the blue wildebeest , use scent marking from two glands, the preorbital gland and a scent gland in the hoof . Territorial scent marking may involve behaviours specific to this activity. When a wolf marks its territory , it lifts a hind leg and urinates on a scent post (usually an elevated position like a tree, rock, or bush). This raised leg urination

9424-488: The case of redlip blenny . This is because the conspecifics share exactly the same set of resources. Several types of resource in a territory may be defended. Food: Large solitary (or paired) carnivores, such as bears and the bigger raptors require an extensive protected area to guarantee their food supply. This territoriality only breaks down when there is a glut of food, for example when grizzly bears are attracted to migrating salmon . Food related territoriality

9548-506: The case of the termites, the relationship is a fully obligate symbiosis on both sides. Domestication (not to be confused with the taming of an individual animal ), is from the Latin domesticus , 'belonging to the house'. The term remained loosely defined until the 21st century, when the American archaeologist Melinda A. Zeder defined it as a long-term relationship in which humans take over control and care of another organism to gain

9672-444: The damage done to native fauna by feral colonies of polecat–ferret hybrids . The ferret has also served as a fruitful research animal, contributing to research in neuroscience and infectious disease, especially influenza . The domestic ferret is often confused with the black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes ), a species native to North America. The name "ferret" is derived from the Latin furittus , meaning "little thief",

9796-448: The defended territory. The size and shape of a territory can vary according to its purpose, season, the amount and quality of resources it contains, or the geography. The size is usually a compromise of resource needs, defense costs, predation pressure and reproductive needs. Some species of squirrels may claim as much as 10 hectares (25 acres) of territory. For European badgers , a home range may be as small as 30 hectares (74 acres) in

9920-509: The domestication of animals involved violence against animals and damage to the environment. This, in turn, he argues, corrupted human ethics and paved the way for "conquest, extermination, displacement, repression, coerced and enslaved servitude, gender subordination and sexual exploitation, and hunger." Domesticated ecosystems provide food, reduce predator and natural dangers, and promote commerce, but their creation has resulted in habitat alteration or loss, and multiple extinctions commencing in

10044-515: The domestication syndrome; it is predicted that domestic animals are less resistant to parasites than their wild relatives. Domesticated birds principally mean poultry , raised for meat and eggs: some Galliformes ( chicken , turkey , guineafowl ) and Anseriformes (waterfowl: ducks , geese , and swans ). Also widely domesticated are cagebirds such as songbirds and parrots ; these are kept both for pleasure and for use in research. The domestic pigeon has been used both for food and as

10168-576: The end, when bird density increases due to the presence of young birds becoming independent. Thus, this dear enemy territoriality relationship is not a fixed pattern but a flexible one likely to evolve with social and ecological circumstances. Some species of bees also exhibit territoriality to defend mating sites. For example, in Euglossa imperialis , a non-social bee species, males have been observed to occasionally form aggregations of fragrance-rich territories, considered to be leks. These leks serve only

10292-764: The ermine portrait of Queen Elizabeth I shows her with her pet ferret, which has been decorated with painted-on heraldic ermine spots. The Ferreter's Tapestry is a 15th-century tapestry from Burgundy , France, now part of the Burrell Collection housed in the Glasgow Museum and Art Galleries. It shows a group of peasants hunting rabbits with nets and white ferrets. This image was reproduced in Renaissance Dress in Italy 1400–1500 , by Jacqueline Herald, Bell & Hyman. Gaston Phoebus' Book of

10416-611: The ferret diet, but it is now known that such foods are inappropriate, and may in fact have negative consequences for ferret health. Ferrets imprint on their food at around six months old. This can make introducing new foods to an older ferret a challenge, and even simply changing brands of kibble may meet with resistance from a ferret that has never eaten the food as a kit. It is therefore advisable to expose young ferrets to as many different types and flavors of appropriate food as possible. Ferrets have four types of teeth (the number includes maxillary (upper) and mandibular (lower) teeth) with

10540-447: The freshwater cnidarian Hydra for research into genetics and physiology. Few have a long history of domestication. Most are used for food or other products such as shellac and cochineal . The phyla involved are Cnidaria , Platyhelminthes (for biological pest control ), Annelida , Mollusca , Arthropoda (marine crustaceans as well as insects and spiders), and Echinodermata . While many marine mollusks are used for food, only

10664-810: The genome and the epigenome , enabling a rapid evolutionary response to artificial selection. Polyploidy increases the number of chromosomes, bringing new combinations of genes and alleles, which in turn enable further changes such as by chromosomal crossover . The microbiome , the collection of microorganisms inhabiting the surface and internal tissue of plants, is affected by domestication. This includes changes in microbial species composition and diversity. Plant lineage, including speciation , domestication, and breeding , have shaped plant endophytes ( phylosymbiosis ) in similar patterns as plant genes. Several species of fungi have been domesticated for use directly as food, or in fermentation to produce foods and drugs. The cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus

10788-430: The genus Acmaea, predatory snails, and sessile organisms such as anemones and barnacles. Nests and offspring: Many birds, particularly seabirds, nest in dense communities but are nonetheless territorial in defending their nesting site to within the distance they can reach while brooding. This is necessary to prevent attacks on their own chicks or nesting material from neighbours. Commonly the resulting superimposition of

10912-489: The greatest threat to the resident territory-holder. In territory defence by groups of animals, reciprocal altruism can operate whereby the cost to the benefactor in helping defend the territory is less than the gains to the beneficiary. An animal chooses its territory by deciding what part of its home range it will defend. In selecting a territory, the size and quality play crucial roles in determining an animal's habitat. Territory size generally tends to be no larger than

11036-588: The ground nearby, thereby leaving a visual advertisement of the territory. This includes domestic dogs . Several species scratch or chew trees leaving a visual mark of their territory. This is sometimes combined with rubbing on the tree which may leave tufts of fur. These include the Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis ) and the American black bear ( Ursus americanus ). Many animals have scent glands in their paws or deposit fur during tree-marking, so tree-marking may be

11160-442: The groups tend to avoid each other rather than seeking to confront and expel each other. Within the home range there may be a core area that no other individual group uses, but, again, this is as a result of avoidance. The ultimate function of animals inhabiting and defending a territory is to increase the individual fitness or inclusive fitness of the animals expressing the behaviour. Fitness in this biological sense relates to

11284-532: The homogenizing effect of gene flow from wild boars into pigs, and created domestication islands in the genome. The same process may apply to other domesticated animals. The 2023 parasite-mediated domestication hypothesis suggests that endoparasites such as helminths and protozoa could have mediated the domestication of mammals. Domestication involves taming, which has an endocrine component; and parasites can modify endocrine activity and microRNAs . Genes for resistance to parasites might be linked to those for

11408-493: The inconsistency of those which survive. Contemporary scholarship agrees that ferrets were bred for sport, hunting rabbits in a practice known as rabbiting . In North America , the ferret has become an increasingly prominent choice of household pet , with over five million in the United States alone. The legality of ferret ownership varies by location. In New Zealand and some other countries, restrictions apply due to

11532-426: The initial episode of domestication of that animal or plant, whereas improvement traits are present only in a proportion of domesticates, though they may be fixed in individual breeds or regional populations . Certain animal species, and certain individuals within those species, make better candidates for domestication because of their behavioral characteristics: The beginnings of mammal domestication involved

11656-580: The leaf material to the fungi that they tend. Some of these fungi are not fully domesticated: the fungi farmed by Mycocepurus smithii constantly produce spores that are not useful to the ants, which eat fungal hyphae instead. The process of domestication by Atta ants, on the other hand, is complete; it took 30 million years. Some 330 fungus-growing termite species of the subfamily Macrotermitinae cultivate Termitomyces fungi to eat; domestication occurred exactly once, 25–40 mya . The fungi, described by Roger Heim in 1942, grow on 'combs' formed from

11780-426: The mornings when plants are richest in nectar. In species that do not form pair bonds, male and female territories are often independent, i.e. males defend territories only against other males and females only against other females. In this case, if the species is polygynous , one male territory probably contains several female territories, while in some polyandrous species such as the northern jacana , this situation

11904-566: The most combative spiders have the largest territories. Some species of penguin defend their nests from intruders trying to steal the pebbles from which the nest is constructed. Mating opportunities: The striped mouse ( Rhabdomys pumilio ) is group living with one single breeding male and up to 4 communally breeding females per group. Groups typically contain several philopatric adult sons (and daughters) that are believed not to breed in their natal group and all group members participate in territorial defence. Males defend their territory using

12028-418: The nest site entrance to establish their territory. Wombats use feces to mark their territory. They have evolved specialized intestinal anatomy to produce cubical feces to ensure the feces do not roll away. Visual sign-posts may be a short-term or long-term mode of advertising a territory. Short-term communication includes the colouration or behaviour of the animal, which can only be communicated when

12152-407: The organism requires to survive, because defending a larger territory incurs greater energy, time and risk of injury costs. For some animals, the territory size is not the most important aspect of territoriality, but rather the quality of the defended territory. Behavioural ecologists have argued that food distribution determines whether a species is territorial or not, however, this may be too narrow

12276-435: The other colors of a ferret are variations on one of these four categories. Ferrets with a white stripe on their face or a fully white head, primarily blazes, badgers and pandas, almost certainly carry a congenital defect which shares some similarities to Waardenburg syndrome . This causes, among other things, a cranial deformation in the womb which broadens the skull, white face markings, and also partial or total deafness. It

12400-715: The other. They also did not engage in physical contact with the territorial males. On the other hand, territorial males patrolled an area around a tree and used the same territory for up to 49 days. It also appeared that they gave up territories to new males without violence. Males defend territories solely for mating, and no other resources such as fragrances, nests, nest construction materials, nectar, or pollen are found at these territories. Although most territories contain multiple (potential) resources, some territories are defended for only one purpose. European blackbirds may defend feeding territories that are distant from their nest sites, and in some species that form leks, for example in

12524-481: The overlaps in their home ranges using their anogenital scent glands . To do this, they perform a handstand to mark vertical surfaces, grasping the highest point with their feet while applying the scent. In the Eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica , both sexes have glands that evolved for marking the nest. Males, although they have the gland, are unable to produce the marking substance. Females secrete it near

12648-407: The paths, thus establishing a scent-marked trail. Another method of visually marking their territory is wiping their horns on bushes or the ground and scraping with the feet, although this is likely combined with the smell of the marking animal. The territorial male scrape-marks every 30 m (98 ft) or so around its territory boundary. After leaving a urination mark, some animals scrape or dig

12772-514: The relationship between them intensified, and humans' role in their survival and reproduction gradually led to formalized animal husbandry . Although the directed pathway for draft and riding animals proceeded from capture to taming, the other two pathways are not as goal-oriented, and archaeological records suggest that they took place over much longer time frames. Unlike other domestic species selected primarily for production-related traits, dogs were initially selected for their behaviors. The dog

12896-724: The resident is present. Other animals may use more long-term visual signals such as faecal deposits, or marks on the vegetation or ground. Visual marking of territory is often combined with other modes of animal communication. Some animals have prominent "badges" or visual displays to advertise their territory, often in combination with scent marking or auditory signals. Male European robins are noted for their highly aggressive territorial behaviour. They attack other males that stray into their territories, and have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. Such attacks sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult robin deaths in some areas. The red breast of

13020-418: The risk of injury. This is ritualized aggression . Such defense frequently involves a graded series of behaviours or displays that include threatening gestures (such as vocalizations, spreading of wings or gill covers, lifting and presentation of claws, head bobbing, tail and body beating) and finally, direct attack. Territories may be held by an individual, a mated or unmated pair, or a group. Territoriality

13144-408: The rival is a hawk). Another strategy used in territory defence is the war of attrition . In this model of aggression, two contestants compete for a resource by persisting while constantly accumulating costs over the time that the contest lasts. Strategically, the game is an auction in which the prize goes to the player with the highest bid, and each player pays the loser's low bid. Some animals use

13268-514: The same note, thus creating the illusion of there being more wolves than there actually are. Wolves from different geographic locations may howl in different fashions: the howls of European wolves are much more protracted and melodious than those of North American wolves, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable. Animals use a range of behaviours to intimidate intruders and defend their territories, but without engaging in fights which are expensive in terms of energy and

13392-460: The scent frequently displays a flehmen response to assist in detecting the mark. Scent marking is often performed by scent rubbing in many mammals. In many mammal species, scent marking is more frequent during the breeding season . Bears and felids such as leopards and jaguars scent-mark by urinating on or rubbing against vegetation. Prosimians and New World monkeys also use scent marking, including urine washing ( self-anointing

13516-417: The secretions from which are used in scent marking . Ferrets can recognize individuals from these anal gland secretions, as well as the sex of unfamiliar individuals. Ferrets may also use urine marking for mating and individual recognition. As with skunks , ferrets can release their anal gland secretions when startled or scared, but the smell is much less potent and dissipates rapidly. Most pet ferrets in

13640-511: The short-range repulsion onto the long-range attraction characteristically leads to the well-known roughly hexagonal spacing of nests. One gets a similar hexagonal spacing resulting from the territorial behaviour of gardening limpets such as species of Scutellastra . They vigorously defend their gardens of particular species of algae, that extend for perhaps 1–2 cm around the periphery of their shells. The desert grass spider, Agelenopsis aperta , often engages in fights over its territory and

13764-459: The small number of traits that made domestic species different from their wild ancestors. He was also the first to recognize the difference between conscious selective breeding in which humans directly select for desirable traits and unconscious selection, in which traits evolve as a by-product of natural selection or from selection on other traits. There is a difference between domestic and wild populations; some of these differences constitute

13888-451: The supposed primitive state of harmony with nature in hunter-gatherer societies, and replacing it, possibly violently or by enslavement, with a social hierarchy as property and power emerged. The dialectal naturalist Murray Bookchin has argued that domestication of animals, in turn, meant the domestication of humanity, both parties being unavoidably altered by their relationship with each other. The sociologist David Nibert asserts that

14012-478: The termites' excreta, dominated by tough woody fragments. The termites and the fungi are both obligate symbionts in the relationship. Spraying (animal behavior) Territoriality is only shown by a minority of species. More commonly, an individual or a group of animals occupies an area that it habitually uses but does not necessarily defend; this is called its home range . The home ranges of different groups of animals often overlap, and in these overlap areas

14136-449: The territory is occupied and may also communicate additional information such as the sex, reproductive status or dominance status of the territory-holder. Sign-posts may communicate information by olfactory , auditory, or visual means, or a combination of these. If an intruder progresses further into the territory beyond the sign-posts and encounters the territory-holder, both animals may begin ritualized aggression toward each other. This

14260-637: The transition of humans from foraging to farming in different places and times across the planet. For instance, small-scale trial cultivation of cereals began some 28,000 years ago at the Ohalo II site in Israel. In the Fertile Crescent 11,000–10,000 years ago, zooarchaeology indicates that goats, pigs, sheep, and taurine cattle were the first livestock to be domesticated. Two thousand years later, humped zebu cattle were domesticated in what

14384-408: The wild. The first animal to be domesticated by humans was the dog , as a commensal , at least 15,000 years ago. Other animals, including goats , sheep , and cows , were domesticated around 11,000 years ago. Among birds, the chicken was first domesticated in East Asia, seemingly for cockfighting, some 7,000 years ago. The horse came under domestication around 5,500 years ago in central Asia as

14508-474: The wood and spreading the gland's secretions. When on the ground, ring-tailed lemurs preferentially mark small saplings and when high in the trees, they usually mark small vertical branches. European wildcats ( Felis silvestris ) deposit their faecal marks on plants with high visual conspicuousness that enhances the visual effectiveness of the signal. Many animals use vocalisations to advertise their territory. These are short-term signals transmitted only when

14632-551: Was a reference to ferrets, polecats, or the similar Egyptian mongoose is uncertain. A male ferret is called a hob; a female ferret is a jill. A spayed female is a sprite, a neutered male is a gib, and a vasectomised male is known as a hoblet. Ferrets under one year old are known as kits. A group of ferrets is known as a "business", or historically as a "busyness". Other purported collective nouns, including "besyness", "fesynes", "fesnyng" and "feamyng", appear in some dictionaries, but are almost certainly ghost words . Ferrets have

14756-532: Was also introduced by humans. Five ferrets were imported in 1879, and in 1882–1883, 32 shipments of ferrets were made from London, totaling 1,217 animals. Only 678 landed, and 198 were sent from Melbourne, Australia. On the voyage, the ferrets were mated with the European polecat, creating a number of hybrids that were capable of surviving in the wild. In 1884 and 1886, close to 4,000 ferrets and ferret hybrids, 3,099 weasels and 137 stoats were turned loose. Concern

14880-500: Was domesticated long before other animals, becoming established across Eurasia before the end of the Late Pleistocene era, well before agriculture . The archaeological and genetic data suggest that long-term bidirectional gene flow between wild and domestic stocks – such as in donkeys , horses , New and Old World camelids, goats, sheep, and pigs – was common. Human selection for domestic traits likely counteracted

15004-532: Was gradual and geographically diffuse – happening in many small steps and spread over a wide area – on the evidence of both archaeology and genetics. It was a process of intermittent trial and error and often resulted in diverging traits and characteristics. Whereas domestication of animals impacted most on the genes that controlled behavior, that of plants impacted most on the genes that controlled morphology (seed size, plant architecture, dispersal mechanisms) and physiology (timing of germination or ripening), as in

15128-573: Was previously unknown, the city of Helsinki began to use ferrets to restrict the city's rabbit population to a manageable level. Ferreting was chosen because in populated areas it is considered to be safer and less ecologically damaging than shooting the rabbits. In the United States, ferrets were relatively rare pets until the 1980s. A government study by the California State Bird and Mammal Conservation Program estimated that by 1996 about 800,000 domestic ferrets were being kept as pets in

15252-570: Was raised that these animals would eventually prey on indigenous wildlife once rabbit populations dropped, and this is exactly what happened to New Zealand's bird species which previously had had no mammalian predators. For millennia, the main use of ferrets was for hunting, or "ferreting". With their long, lean build and inquisitive nature, ferrets are very well equipped for getting down holes and chasing rodents, rabbits and moles out of their burrows. The Roman historians Pliny and Strabo record that Caesar Augustus sent " viverrae " from Libya to

15376-557: Was triggered by the climatic and environmental changes that occurred after the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum and which continue to this present day. These changes made obtaining food by hunting and gathering difficult. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog at least 15,000 years ago. The Younger Dryas 12,900 years ago was a period of intense cold and aridity that put pressure on humans to intensify their foraging strategies but did not favour agriculture. By

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