Farm animals look different from their wild counterparts in many ways, and one difference is consistent: their brains are smaller than those of their ancestors. From sheep to pigs to cows, domesticated animals have smaller relative brain sizes compared to their wild counterparts—a phenomenon known as the domestication effect.
Now, a study by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) has discovered a rare reversal of the domestication effect. Over the course of captive breeding, the American mink has undergone a reduction in relative brain size, but populations that escaped from captivity were able to regain almost the full ancestral brain size within 50 generations. The study is published today in the Royal Society Open Science.
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ameri...bEawgJkTeFxKP12HI5AAkRtn5fvGOIUB9Qr2ng8dMWzc#!
Now, a study by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) has discovered a rare reversal of the domestication effect. Over the course of captive breeding, the American mink has undergone a reduction in relative brain size, but populations that escaped from captivity were able to regain almost the full ancestral brain size within 50 generations. The study is published today in the Royal Society Open Science.
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ameri...bEawgJkTeFxKP12HI5AAkRtn5fvGOIUB9Qr2ng8dMWzc#!