
Are Australians Accidentally Redomesticating the Dingo? - curtis
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/dingo-dog-domestication/551582/?single_page=true
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mrec
I wonder whether something like this will happen to urban foxes - the ones in
London are extraordinarily bold, sometimes happily trotting past humans a foot
or two away.

I particularly wonder this because of Belyayev's famous experiments [1], in
which selecting silver foxes for reduced flight distance (i.e. "tameness") led
to them developing visibly doglike characteristics. I haven't noticed any sign
of this in urban foxes yet.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_fox_(animal)#Initial_ex...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_fox_\(animal\)#Initial_experimentation)

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taneq
Maybe the speed at which it happens is a factor? I'd imagine that breeding
them directly for tameness and nothing else would push them in a different
direction than allowing them to self-select for fitness in a highly populated
urban environment.

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ryandvm
Interestingly, a similar thing has happened in the United States with the
Carolina Dog. They are supposedly also referred to as the "American Dingo",
though I've never heard anyone actually ever call them that.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Dog)

It's basically an ancient breed of wild/pariah dog ranged in the Southeastern
United States that has undergone re-domestication in recent history. Not sure
how much they actually have in common with Australian dingoes, but they are a
terribly lovable breed.

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gizmo686
I call them American Dingos.

Having grown up with one, I can confirm that they are amazing.

There is something special about seeing a sleeping dog listen at you.

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dpatrick86
Morphological changes seem to happen very early in domestication. Anyone
interested in this should read about Belyaev's fox domestication
experiments... super fascinating!

[http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160912-a-soviet-
scientist-c...](http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160912-a-soviet-scientist-
created-the-only-tame-foxes-in-the-world)

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contingencies
No. Recent evidence shows dingoes came with an Indian immigration wave quite
early on. In short, they were introduced to Australia pre-domesticated, by
another population, when Australia was already populated by the aborigines.
Then they were kept domesticated by aborigines, and now plenty of people still
keep them as pets. Re-domestication? More like fourth-wave popularity.

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thret
Why would Indians bring them to Australia if they weren't already
domesticated? It's a long trip for a wild animal to be kept on a boat.

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robotresearcher
I think you mis-read 'pre-domesticated' (already domesticated) as 'pre-
domestication' (not yet domesticated).

