The Silver Fox Experiment

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Postby furever_pit » February 13th, 2011, 10:02 pm

An interesting and thought provoking video and breeding experiment that explores the genetic basis of temperament (tame vs. wild/aggressive).

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulleti ... 6-a-19045/

Thoughts?
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Postby TinaMartin » February 14th, 2011, 9:40 am

Cant see the thread. If its what I think its about where they were breeding foxes to be less nervous and flighty on the fur farm and the coat colors got all wonky it changed many long standing theories on the evolution of the relationship of dog and man.
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Postby furever_pit » February 14th, 2011, 2:02 pm

Crap. I posted the wrong link. That's what happens when I try to do too many things at once.

Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRQbSdMXBk0

Tina, it is the one were they saw a change in color as well as other physical traits (retaining floppy ears longer, change in leg length, etc) when breeding for more friendly foxes. There was a parallel grouping where they bred for aggressive traits. They have done quite a bit of work with the genetics of these animals and are beginning to isolate the genetic codes responsible for tameness.
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Postby TinaMartin » February 17th, 2011, 12:03 pm

Yup thats the one! There is so much information that has come to light because of what they have found out. I dont agree with fur farming but I have to admit that they have uncovered some interesting information.
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Postby HappyPuppy » February 17th, 2011, 7:42 pm

That is so fascinating! I knew about the experiments but I don't remember seeing this exact video... We'll never know, but reading on another forum about merles today made me want to know if any had turned up in these foxes.............
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Postby SisMorphine » February 17th, 2011, 8:20 pm

I'm always up for some Merle reading. Link me! :)
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Postby TheRedQueen » February 17th, 2011, 9:20 pm

HappyPuppy wrote:That is so fascinating! I knew about the experiments but I don't remember seeing this exact video...


Ditto!

I finally got a chance to watch it today...I hadn't seen some of this footage...very cool
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Postby furever_pit » February 19th, 2011, 7:49 pm

Here are some links to articles on the experiment that I have gotten. I haven't read them all yet, but it's on my very long to do list. haha.

http://cbsu.tc.cornell.edu/ccgr/behaviour/Index.htm
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues ... experiment
http://www.hum.utah.edu/~bbenham/251...Experiment.pdf
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Postby TheRedQueen » February 19th, 2011, 8:03 pm

Did you hear about this? The first "pet" for humans may have actually been a fox:

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/19/133898499 ... been-a-fox
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Postby furever_pit » February 19th, 2011, 9:49 pm

Ooh, no I didn't hear about that.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

This is kind off topic, but have you seen The Daily Coyote? It's a blog about this girl who took in a coyote as a baby and it has stayed with her. Very interesting I think.
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