Domestication traits are generally fixed within all domesticates, and were selected during the initial episode of domestication of that animal or plant, whereas improvement traits are present only in a portion of domesticates, though they may be fixed in individual breeds or regional populations. There is also a genetic difference between the domestication traits that researchers believe to have been essential at the early stages of domestication, and the improvement traits that have appeared since the split between wild and domestic populations. There is a genetic difference between domestic and wild populations. artificial selection) in which humans directly select for desirable traits, and unconscious selection where traits evolve as a by-product of natural selection or from selection on other traits. He was also the first to recognize the difference between conscious selective breeding (i.e.

Ĭharles Darwin recognized a small number of traits that made domesticated species different from their wild ancestors. The domestication of animals is the mutual relationship between non-human animals and the humans who have influence on their care and reproduction.

Dogs and sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated.