10. Back in his day, Belyaev had suggested something else about gene expression and domestication. He proposed that large clusters of genes whose expression affects the process of domestication might themselves be under the control of a select few “master regulatory genes.” If correct, these master regulatory genes might then control many of the changes that have emerged during fox domestication—changes in behavior, coat color, hormone level, bone length and width, and so on—all at once. Lyudmila and Anna know that finding these master regulatory genes, should they even exist, is years off in the future. But, when it comes to her beloved foxes, Lyudmila has become something of an expert on planning for things that seem far, far off in the future. If they could eventually find these master regulatory genes that control gene expression in clusters of other genes, and sequence them, Lyudmila believes that the fox team might just tap into “control [of] the entire domestication process.”
11. The genes were SOX6 and PROM1: F. Albert et al., “A Comparison of Brain Gene Expression Levels in Domesticated and Wild Animals,” PLOS Genetics 8 (2012), doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002962.
12. M. Carneiro et al., “Rabbit Genome Analysis Reveals a Polygenic Basis for Phenotypic Change during Domestication,” Science 345 (2014): 1074–1079.
13. A. Wilkins, R. Wrangham, and T. Fitch, “The ‘Domestication Syndrome’ in Mammals: A Unified Explanation Based on Neural Crest Cell Behavior and Genetics,” Genetics 197 (2014): 795–808.
14. Letter from Rene and Mitchell to Lyudmila Trut.
15. Letter from Moiseev Dmitry to Lyudmila Trut.
Index
Abell, Paul, 141
Acland, Greg, 162, 164
aggression, selection for, 77–79
Akademgorodok, 32–35, 41
Albert, Frank, 189
American Scientist, article by Trut, 158–60, 163
animal behavior community, 80–83, 102, 167, 179
animal communication, 179–82, 207n26
animal emotions, 38, 68, 86, 96, 103–4, 168
animal expressions. See animal emotions
animal reasoning (thinking, cognition, learning), 37, 103–5, 161, 167–68, 170–71
Australopithecines, 143–44
Bastock, Margaret, 81
Behavior Genetics Association, 84
behaviorism, 36–37
Belyaev, Dmitri
background, 10–11, 20–23
director of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, 35
events leading up to the fox domestication experiment, 7–10
fostering scientific discussion, 55
illness and death, 148–52
lectures and keynote addresses, 31–32, 83, 123, 138, 142–44
Secretary General of the International Genetics Congress (Moscow, 1978), 120, 123
Belyaev, Nikolai, 20–22
bipedalism, 141–43
Blok, Alexander, 8
blood sampling, 65, 79–80, 119, 164–66
bonobos, 145–47, 171, 204n15
Borodin, Pavel, 55, 76–77, 97, 148
Browne, Malcom, 160
Burns, Robert, 130
cell migration, timing of, 126
Central Research Laboratory on Fur Breeding Animals (Moscow), 7, 10, 22
Cheney, Dorothy, 171, 173
Chetverikov, Sergei, 21
chimpanzees, 73, 102–3, 124, 146, 171, 174, 204n15
and bonobos, genetic comparison, 146–47
hypothetical experiment to domesticate, 147–48
Clever Hans, 179
coat color, 106. See also domestication: and changes in color of fur
Cold War, 54, 81, 85, 118, 121, 129
Collins, Francis, 163
conditioning, 82. See also operant conditioning
Crick, Francis, 30, 163
cross-fostering, 105–8, 111
crows, in New Caledonia, 169–70
Darwin, Charles, 13, 24–25, 68, 122, 140, 168
deer and reindeer, 27
Descartes, René, 116
destabilizing selection, 61, 70, 74, 80, 115, 122–28, 136, 142–44, 178, 190, 199n5
détente, 85, 121, 128
de Waal, Frans, 145, 171
DNA
discovery of the structure, 30
replicated and mapped, 162–63, 166, 186
sequencing technology, 188
Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 84
dog burials, ancient, 112
dog genomics, 114, 162, 164, 183–84
dog-human relationship, and coevolution, 111–14
dog-like behaviors, in tame foxes, 56, 94, 108, 133
barking, 98, 101
distinguishing strangers, 97, 101
following human pointing, 176–77
responsiveness to being called, 88
tail wagging, 50–52, 56–57, 103
dogs
compared to wolves, 37
domesticated, 9, 86, 112–13
evolved from wolves, 9–10, 26, 187
excelling at the object choice test, 174
exhibiting emotions, 95
domestication, 2–3, 9, 12–15, 24–25, 48, 83, 103, 124, 138, 150, 189–91, 209n10
and animals’ emotional effect on people, 66
and changes in color of fur, 13, 24, 75, 126
and changes in reproductive biology, 14, 48, 59, 117
and changes in timing of genetic traits, 59
and eye contact between animal and human, 64, 78, 114
and genetics, 75, 105–6, 108, 161, 183–84, 187
and intelligence, in dogs, 37
of plants, 17. See also Vavilov, Nikolai
retaining neotonic features, 13, 155
and self-domestication, 144–45, 147, 203n10, 204n15
and social cognition, 174–75, 177
and tameness, 27
youthful behavior extended into adulthood, 74
Dubinin, Nikolai, 32, 34–35, 54
embryology, 126, 190
Fitch, Tecumseh, 190
Forel, August, 73
Fossey, Diane, 171
fox domestication experiment, 1–3, 10, 20
caretakers, 2, 47, 62, 119, 157, 165
categorization scheme, 56–57
comparison between tame and control populations, 79
control population, 65, 133
foxes dying for lack of funding, 159–60
funding, 157–61
house study, 99–101, 108–10, 123, 131. See also foxes, individual: Pushinka, moving into a home
mapping the genome, 163–66, 183–87, 208n4
measuring hormone levels, 155–56
pilot project at Kohila, 24, 29–30, 42–43, 53
simulating the normal rearing process, 46
a standard approach to testing for calmness, 29, 42, 44
threatened by upheaval in the Soviet economy, 156–58
workers forming bonds with foxes, 47–48, 62–64, 86–88, 95–98
foxes
aggressive, 12, 15, 28–29, 42, 46–47
in captivity, 28
as pets, 191–92
foxes, individual
Coco, 133–36, 180
Ember, 50–52, 56–57
Jacquelin, 104–5
Julsbar, 89
Kefedra, 181–82
Kukla, 87
Mechta, 75, 83
Palma, 93
Penka, 93–96, 99
Pesna, 93
Plaksa, 93
Prelest, 93
Proshka, 99, 109
Pushinka, 2–3, 104, 131, 150, 167
Pushinka, her pups, 93–99, 108
Pushinka, moving into a home, 4–5, 88–93, 100–102
Pushinka II, 109
Pushok, 93, 96, 99
Rada, 98
Tobik, 87
Wilj’a, 178
foxes, in the fox domestication experiment
changes in anatomy, 133, 154–55, 185–86
changes in ears, 74–75
ch
anges in endocrine system, 120
fox pups, 45–46, 49–50, 56–58, 71–73
on fur farms, 12
given names, 43, 64
having a second mating season, 47, 125, 127. See also domestication: and changes in reproductive biology
laughing, 154, 180, 182
silver, 2, 10, 12, 22, 26–29, 47–48, 184–85, 189
tails, curly, 57
tested using the object choice test, 175–77
trained like dogs, 178–79
vocalization, 96, 154, 179–82
foxes and wolves
common ancestors, 26
comparison, 136–37
fox farm, experimental, 41, 58, 62, 65, 86
fox farming, 28–29, 39–42
Franklin, Rosalind, 163
fur production, 10, 12
gazing, 64, 78, 114
gene activation, 24–25, 124–26
gene expression, 125–27, 143–44, 147, 187–89, 209n10
genome sequencing, 161
Gogoleva, Svetlana, 180–82
Goodall, Jane, 102–3, 137, 168, 171
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 153, 157
Gorky, Maxim, 33
Greylag goslings, 70, 168
grooming, by primates, 172–73
Hare, Brian, 145–47, 172–78, 206n6
Heinrich, Bernd, 74, 168–69
Homo erectus, 140, 143, 203n4
Homo habilis, 140–41
hormones, 59–61, 65, 120, 188–89
sex, 117
stress, 60–61, 79–80, 87, 115, 118
Horowitz, Alexandra, 95
human-dog bond, 111–15
Human Genome Project, 162–63
Hunt, Gavin, 169
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 140
imprinting, 70
instinct, 82, 168
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, 32–35, 41, 54, 126, 130, 153, 157, 161
International Congress of Genetics
Berkeley (1973), 84–85
Netherlands (1963), 52–53
Tokyo (1968), 80
XIII, India (1983), 138
XIV, Moscow (1978), 85–86, 120–22
International Ethological Conference (Edinburgh, 1971), 80–81, 83–84
Java Man, 140
Johanson, Donald, 141–42
Kharlamova, Anastasia, 186
Khrushchev, Nikita, 30, 34–35
King, Mary-Claire, 124, 143
Kiselev, Galena, 131
Kohler, Wolfgang, 171
Kolesnikova, Larissa, 118–19
Kolpakov, Victor, 130
Krushinsky, Leonid, 36–38, 69, 169
Kukekova, Anna, 161–67, 183–88, 208n8
Laetoli footprints, 141–42
Lark, Gordon, 185–86
Lavrentyev, Mikhail, 34
Leakey, Louis and Mary, 102, 139–41
Lerner, Michael, 53
Leskov, Nikolai, 8
Lesnoi (fox farm), 42–46
Lorenz, Konrad, 69–70, 168
loyalty, in dogs and tame foxes, 3, 86, 98–99
Lucy, 141–42
Lysenko, Trofim, 8–10, 12, 16, 122
loss of power, 30, 34–35, 39, 53
rise to power over Soviet science, 18–20, 22–23, 31–33
Manning, Aubrey, 80–81, 83–84, 129–32
mating, 14, 24, 44–45, 48, 61, 116–17. See also domestication: and changes in reproductive biology
McConnell, Patricia, 94
melatonin, 116–20, 125
Mendel, Gregor, 76, 122
Mukhamedshina, Irena, 178
Muller, Herman, 9
Mullis, Kary, 162
natural selection, 14, 57, 60, 67–70, 122, 128, 142–43
nature versus nurture, 106
Neanderthal, 139–40
neural crest cell, role in domestication, 190–91
neurochemicals, 115
numerosity, understood by animals, 170–71
Nutcracker Man. See Zinjanthropus boisei
object choice test, 173–74, 176, 207n19, 207n22
operant conditioning, 51
Oskina, Irena, 79–80, 155
oxytocin, 114–15
Packer, Craig, 173
Pavlov, Ivan, 36, 50–51
pedigree analysis, 76, 126
Peking Man, 140
play, social and object, in animals, 71–74
Plyusnina, Irena, 155
Pushinka’s house. See fox domestication experiment: house study
Pushkin, Alexander, 8
rat domestication experiment, 76–77
ravens, 73–74
Rothschild, Walter, 27
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, The Little Prince, 108, 192
Sakharov, Andrei, 53
Scandalious, John, 121–23
Schino, Gabriele, 172
self-domestication. See domestication: and self-domestication
serotonin, 115–16, 120, 202n10, 205n5
Seyfarth, Robert, 171, 173
Shumny, Vladimir, 150, 153
Silver, Lee, 163
silver fox. See foxes, in the fox domestication experiment: silver
Skinner, B. F., 36, 51
Smuts, Barbara, 171
social cognition (intelligence), in animals, 171–78
Sorokina, Nina, 7, 9–12, 24, 43
Stalin, Josef, 8, 10, 19, 22, 30
tameness, selection for, 14–15, 48, 60–61, 67, 70, 111, 126–28, 138, 146, 177, 189–91. See also fox domestication experiment: a standard approach to testing for calmness
Thorndike, Edward, 82
Tinbergen, Nikolaas, 69, 81, 169
tool use, by animals, 103, 169–70
Trut, Lyudmila
background, 36
choosing a fox farm and establishing a routine, 41–48
joining the fox experiment, 38–41
Tsitsin, Nikolai, 122
Vavilov, Nikolai, 17–20, 30, 197n1
Velker, Svetlana, 78
Venter, Craig, 163
vervet monkeys, 173, 179–80
Volodin, Ilya, 180–81, 207n26
von Frisch, Karl, 69
von Osten, William, 179
Wagner, Vladimir, 36
walking upright. See bipedalism
Watson, James, 30, 163
Wilkins, Adam, 190
Wilmut, Ian, 163
Wilson, A. C., 124, 143
Wilson, E. O., 82, 137
wolf domestication, 66–67, 111, 136, 177–78, 189
social factor, 137
wolves, compared to dogs. See dogs: compared to wolves
Wrangham, Richard, 145–47, 171, 175, 177–78, 190
zebras, 26–27
Zinjanthropus boisei, 140
How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog) Page 24
