Artificial Selection

Breeding for a purpose

Dogs bred as sighthounds -
clockwise from top left: Whippet,
Borzoi, and Saluki
Can you see the similarities in their
anatomy?
What physical characteristics do you
think were selected?
14th century
print of a hunt.

Can you spot

the sight-
hounds?

How did you

decide?
Dogs bred as herding dogs – clockwise
from top left – Border collie,
Lancashire heeler, Rottweiler, Old
English Sheepdog

Do you think the

characteristics that
are bred for are
physical or
behavioural?
Why?
 Dogs – bred for a purpose
• Dogs have been selectively bred for a
purpose for 15,000 years
• Starting with some wolves, dogs were
initially bred to help with:
– hunting; producing hounds, terriers, and
retrievers
– farming; producing herding dogs and guard
dogs
• Modern breeding has given us companion
dogs and toy dogs – whose purpose is to
keep us company… funnily enough
The Auroch – where all domesticated
Meat
cattle were bred from

Dairy

Draft
Artificial selection in plants
 Wheat
• Tall wheat plants have a high yield, but are
easily damaged in wind and rain
• Dwarf wheat plants have a low yield, but
are robust against nasty weather
• Q: What do you think happened when the
two types were cross-bred?
• A: A dwarf wheat with high yield that was
robust!
• Other types were produced, but they were
discarded
 How would you…?
• Discuss how you would breed for:

– Better quality of milk from cows

– - Increased number of
offspring in sheep
 In summary…
• Selective breeding = Artificial selection
• Has been used for animals and plants
• The method:
– The desired characteristics are identified
– They are bred together
– Only the offspring exhibiting the desired
characteristics are bred
– This is repeated over several generations until
the desired trait is fully developed
 In summary…
• Problems:
• Traits are chosen to benefit humans, not
the animal
– Physical problems often occur in domestic
animals eg. Inflammation of the udder
(mastisis) in cows due to increased milk
production

• Usually involves inbreeding, which can

lead to reduced genetic diversity
 Would it be right to selectively
breed humans??
• Adolf Hitler believed in a master race (the
Aryans) and implemented a plan to create this
race.
• This involved eugenics – the selective breeding
of humans.
 Nazi eugenics
• Those considered “not worthy of life”, - let
alone allowed to have children - included
(but was not limited to) the criminal,
degenerate, dissident, feeble-minded,
homosexual, idle, disability, insane, and
the weak.

• 400,000 people were sterilised against their

will and 70,000 were killed
What do YOU think?