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How Animals Became Domestic
Humans have tried to domesticate a great many animals. Very few attempts succeeded, and the reasons are consistent.
About this topic
Of the world's large mammals, only a handful have ever been successfully domesticated, and the failures are not for want of trying. The requirements turn out to be demanding: the animal must grow quickly, breed in captivity, tolerate confinement, avoid panicking, and have a social structure a human can slot into. Miss one and it does not work, which is why horses were domesticated and zebras were not despite centuries of attempts. These questions cover what was tamed, when, and what domestication does to an animal over generations.
Questions & answers
How Animals Became Domestic: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1Which animal is generally accepted as the first domesticated by humans?
- A The sheep
- B The cow
- C The horse
- D The dog Correct
Answer: D. The dog
Why: Domestication from wolves began well before agriculture, with estimates ranging from 15,000 to over 30,000 years ago.
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2Zebras were never successfully domesticated mainly because what?
- A They are too small to ride
- B They breed too slowly
- C They panic easily and lack a suitable social structure Correct
- D They cannot digest grain
Answer: C. They panic easily and lack a suitable social structure
Why: Attempts were made repeatedly in colonial Africa. Their strong flight response and tendency to bite made them unreliable in harness.
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3Domesticated animals often show which set of changes?
- A Increased aggression
- B Smaller brains, floppier ears and patchy coats Correct
- C Larger brains and sharper senses
- D Longer lifespans in all cases
Answer: B. Smaller brains, floppier ears and patchy coats
Why: This cluster is called domestication syndrome and appears across unrelated species, though the underlying cause is still debated.
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4The Russian silver fox experiment demonstrated what?
- A Selecting only for tameness produces physical changes too Correct
- B That foxes cannot be tamed
- C That tameness is purely learned
- D That diet determines temperament
Answer: A. Selecting only for tameness produces physical changes too
Why: Within a few decades foxes bred solely for calmness developed floppy ears, curled tails and patchy coats nobody had selected for.
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5Cats are thought to have become domestic through what route?
- A Captured and bred for hunting
- B Introduced from ships
- C Selectively bred for temperament first
- D Attracted to rodents around early grain stores Correct
Answer: D. Attracted to rodents around early grain stores
Why: This is often described as self-domestication, since the animals that tolerated humans best had the most food available.
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6Horses were domesticated primarily on which grasslands?
- A The North American prairie
- B The Australian outback
- C The Eurasian steppe Correct
- D The African savannah
Answer: C. The Eurasian steppe
Why: Horses had gone extinct in the Americas long before and were reintroduced there by Europeans thousands of years later.
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7Which of these was domesticated in the Americas before European contact?
- A The pig
- B The llama Correct
- C The horse
- D The cow
Answer: B. The llama
Why: Llamas and alpacas were domesticated in the Andes, along with guinea pigs and turkeys. The Americas had few suitable large mammals.
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8Chickens are descended principally from which bird?
- A The red junglefowl Correct
- B The pheasant
- C The quail
- D The wild turkey
Answer: A. The red junglefowl
Why: Domesticated in South and Southeast Asia, they may have been kept for cockfighting before they were kept for meat and eggs.
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9Why is being able to breed in captivity essential to domestication?
- A It reduces the animal's size
- B It makes the animal tamer immediately
- C It prevents disease
- D Without it every generation must be caught from the wild Correct
Answer: D. Without it every generation must be caught from the wild
Why: Cheetahs breed poorly in captivity, which is why they were tamed and used for hunting but never truly domesticated.
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10Selective breeding differs from natural selection in what way?
- A It cannot change physical traits
- B It affects only appearance
- C Humans decide which traits are favoured Correct
- D It works faster than genetics allows
Answer: C. Humans decide which traits are favoured
Why: The mechanism is identical; only the selecting agent differs. It is why dog breeds diverged so dramatically in a few centuries.
Frequently asked questions about How Animals Became Domestic
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How Animals Became Domestic has 10 questions and takes about 7 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our Animals & Wildlife category.
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Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
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Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
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Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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