General Question

Taz0007's avatar

Do you think that speciation is occuring within domesticated dogs?

Asked by Taz0007 (145points) January 3rd, 2012
5 responses
“Great Question” (1points)

This thought just crossed my mind; can selective breeding introduce the selection pressures required for two species to be incompatible when it comes to reproduction. Or does this already exist?

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Answers

syz's avatar

Dog breeds all readily reproduce. (Except perhaps bulldogs, who can’t even reproduce within the breed without human intervention.)

syz (35943points)“Great Answer” (1points)
marinelife's avatar

No, I don’t. When dog breeds are allowed to mingle indiscriminately, they tend toward one prototype dog.

the100thmonkey's avatar

How many Chihuahuas have offspring with Great Danes?

Nevertheless, are you talking about morphological or genetic speciation?

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

It can reduce the genetic variety that’s important but I don’t think it will make them incompatible.
As a side note, someone in NY shot a huge coyote, they thought. Turns out with genetic testing, the identified it as a wild wolf.

Blueroses's avatar

It’s an interesting premise but if there were any truth to it, I’d expect the shelter population of mixed breeds to be decreasing. It isn’t.

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