Octopus build cities, establish hierarchies and show social group behaviours. Domesticating will mean creating a new kind of octopus, with ecological and ethical implications.
Longfin damselfish (left) have domesticated mysid shrimps (right).
Rohan Brooker
While humans domesticate plants and animals, these relationships are surprisingly rare in other species. Our new study found a species of fish that appears to have domesticated a kind of tiny shrimp.
Archaeologists investigate an ancient habitation site in western Mongolia, seeking clues to the early history of domestic horses.
William Taylor
Archaeologists have long argued over when and how people first domesticated horses. A decade ago, new techniques appeared to have provided answers – but further discoveries change the story again.
Tomatoes’ ancestors looked very different.
Foxys Forest Manufacture/Shutterstock
Through genetic detective work, scientists have identified missing links in the tomato’s evolution from a wild blueberry-sized fruit in South America to the larger modern tomato of today.
He died so that we might eat cheese.
Vasekk/Shutterstock
The how and the when of dog domestication are fairly settled. As for the where: now DNA says Fido traces his roots back to wolves in Central Asia that lingered around people’s camps millennia ago.
Keep playing dumb and they might even let us sleep by the fire.
Ronnie Macdonald
House cats are a great source of companionship for many people – 3 million cats are kept as pets in Australia. Now thanks to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science today…