Selective Breeding Answers

1. What is selective breeding

Selective Breeding is the process by which humans breed plants and animals for particular characteristics.

2. How long ago did selective breeding start?

Humans started selective breeding about 10,000 years ago.

3. What did selective breeding allow hominids to achieve?

Selective breeding allows humans to move from hunter/gathers, no longer needing to wander for food (energy), to being able to stay in the same location.

4. Why is modern civilization dependent on selective breedings?

With a predictable food source, human populations were able to grow, develop transportation, communicate, trade, and build settlements.

5. Are there negative outcomes to selective breeding?

One negative outcome can be the appearance of detrimental hidden genetic diseases and/or negative traits. Due to the close genetic similarities in selective breeding there's a greater chance that these traits will appear.

6. How are selective breeding (artificial selection) and natural selection similar and different?

In both processes the traits of the parents are passed on to offspring. However, in selective breeding humans are selecting which organisms survive by picking them and breeding them further. In Natural Selection, nature and the environment that the organism lives in selects which individuals survive.