A Whole Different Animal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wolf

Dogs are known as man's best friend and there are fossils to suggest that they joined forces with humans over 14,000 years ago. Genetic tests have indicated that they are descended from gray wolves.

It is thought that wolves would have been attracted to human's hunting successes and would have scavenged the remains. Initially humans were unlikely to have gained much from the wolves but as time went on they became helpful, probably hunting alongside humans.

As they evolved, they changed dramatically, displaying different characteristics in accordance with their new roles. We now have many and varied types of dog from the guard dogs, such as the German shepherd, to the Pomeranian lapdog.

Answer: Scares and panics easily

Not every species is able to be domesticated. If it scares and panics easily, it probably won't feel comfortable enough to live in a small environment with humans, and relaxed enough to breed.

Non aggressive, friendly specimens would have been chosen as these would be more likely to be of use to us. A species also needs to be fast growing in order to maximise yield. Having to wait for an elephant to come to maturation would have made it a very slow process to get a ride! Our specimen would also need to be rather unfussy as to what it eats. Requiring a specialised diet would also deter people from making the effort to domesticate.

Answer: Agricultural revolution

Cats, being cats, appear to have domesticated themselves. It is thought that when humans traded being hunter-gatherers for being farmers, the resulting rodent problem that came with growing grain was the perfect opportunity for cats to stick around and start hunting those mice.

Unlike dogs, which evolved dramatically into vastly different looking animals, cats have remained fairly close to their source. It is felt they didn't evolve from the large cats like lions and tigers, but from small wildcats similar to the European or African wildcat.

Answer: Dmitry Belyaev

Belyaev devised an experiment on silver foxes, an animal being fairly unsuccessfully bred for their fur. He chose those animals which showed a reduced fear of humans when approached in their cages with a gloved hand. After several generations the foxes had changed into being almost affectionate towards their keepers. In addition to the behavioral changes, marked differences in their coats, ears and tails had become apparent.

This experiment was a big indicator of how wolves had evolved into dogs. It appears that the genes that are responsible for tameness also have a say in how ears and tails look.

Answer: Lactose tolerance into adulthood

Cattle are descended from an extinct species called aurochs. They had a threefold effect on our lives. They were used to pull heavy burdens and improved our farming by increasing our ability to plough bigger areas. We use them for meat and also for milking. The latter attribute gave us access to a product, milk, that previously we would only have access to whilst babies, and our bodies adapted to take advantage of that by increasing our lactose tolerance into adulthood.

Answer: Horse

Although all these modern day beasts of burden have had a large role to play, the horse has been the most widespread. Domesticated over 6000 years ago on the grasslands of the Ukraine from wild horses, they spread across Europe and Asia, eventually travelling to the Americas with the Spanish.

Camels didn't spread across the globe as much, though were of much use in desert areas where horses struggle.

Llamas are widespread around the world now, but were previously confined to South America.

Donkeys were the favoured beast of burden of the Egyptians. They fell out of favour at some point as evidenced by the word 'ass' being used as an insult.

Answer: No

Domestication only works with animals that are not violent or totally freaked out by humans.

Zebras are known to attack people and are very unpredictable. They panic easily, which is probably a helpful trait to have when there are lions around.

There are photographs of zebras being ridden, but a tame zebra is not a domesticated one.

Answer: Elephant

There are many elephants in captivity. Hannibal famously used them to cross the Alps and they are used to bear humans on tiger hunts and tourist trips. However a tame animal is not a domesticated one.

An elephant in captivity is still a wild animal. We don't breed them for different traits. We capture them and train them within their lifetime, often using quite brutal methods.

Female elephants are more likely to be captured as the males can be very unpredictable.

Answer: Bees and silkworms

There are two main species of bee that we have domesticated. It started 9000 years ago when bees were kept in pottery jars. Even their homes have evolved.
We use them for honey, but also in candle making, polishes, and cosmetics.

Silkworms are the larvae of the silk moth. In order to form their cocoons they spin long strings of silky material. We unravel it to weave into expensive fabric. Silkworms are dependant on humans totally and can no longer exist unaided in the outside world.

Answer: Goldfish

Originally bred for food in China, the domestication process started to produce changes in the looks of the original wild carp. When pretty red, orange and yellow fish began emerging, people took to saving them and placing them in 'ponds of mercy'.

As time has gone on these fish are no longer considered food, but are bred with ever more startling looks including elongated fins and bulging eyes. Their only purpose is to look beautiful in a fish tank.