Artificial Selection

Breeding for a purpose

All our modern breeds of dog are descended
from the wolf.
So how come they all look and act so differently?

Very Loyal and

fast and intelligent
agile

Small and Large and

friendly strong

Courageous, Hard-
with a very working with
strong jaw a thick coat
Gamekeepers in the 1800s had a problem. Poachers were
entering their land and stealing their game-birds before
the shooting season. Their dogs (mastiffs) were big,
strong dogs and great companions but they were not
aggressive or fast enough to chase after the poachers.
Another breed known to them was the bulldog. This
was quick and aggressive but not strong enough to pull
the poachers down and hold them until a gamekeeper
arrived.
What could they do?

Mastiff Bulldog
 Humans have changed the way dogs look and act by
choosing which dogs to breed together.

Mastiff – large and Bulldog – Aggressive

strong but slow and and quick but small.
not aggressive.

Bullmastiff –
Large, quick,
This is called strong and
aggressive

Selective Breeding Perfect!

This dog is a more modern example of selective
breeding.
It is a relatively new breed called a labradoodle.
What two dogs do you think were bred to make it?
Where did your breed come from?
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 more than 3000 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, insane, and the weak

• 400,000 people were sterilised against

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