Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Domestication of Goats

Starting point is 00:00:00 Thousands of years ago, humans began forming a relationship with an animal that would become one of history's most important livestock species. It could survive in harsh environments, eat vegetation that other animals avoided, and provided humans with food and valuable materials. Over thousands of years, this animal spread around the world, adapting to new environments and developing hundreds of distinct breeds. Learn more about the remarkable history of goats on this episode of Everything everywhere daily. Trade ice skating at Nathan Phillips Square for ice cubes in your umbrella drink. Let Porter Airlines fly you from Toronto Pearson nonstop to 10 top sun destinations in Mexico,

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Starting point is 00:01:38 Discover Coffee Plus on Espresso.com. One of the most important domesticated animals is one that most people in the modern world don't have direct experience with. The goat. Yet goats have allowed humans to live in places that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. Taxonomically, goats belong to the Bovode family. Members of the Bovade family are primarily identified by having permanent horns, a specialized four-chamber stomach and hooves with two functional toes. The evolutionary lineage is believed to have diverged from deer and giraffes about 20 million years ago.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Early members of the Bovd-A lineage lived in woodland environments and were rather small. The earliest known bovid was a small antelope-like animal called an Eotragus. These creatures lived in Eurasia and had many of the key characteristics that modern bovids have. One trait that helped bovids succeed was their crowned teeth. It's believed that these evolved to let the species consume tougher vegetation and grass. Modern goats belong to the subfamily, Caprinae, which includes sheep and several other mountain-dwelling bovids. Capriene includes domesticated goats and sheep, along with other wild animals such as musk, oxen,

Starting point is 00:02:58 and mountain goats. Depending on the classification system, it contains roughly three dozen living species, divided into several evolutionary lines. Domestic goat belonged to the subfamily Caprini and the genus Capra. Capra is the root of Capricorn, the sign of the zodiac, whose symbol is a goat. As Capriens evolved, different species adapted to habitats ranging from rugged mountains to rocky slopes. Their specialized hooves, strong limbs, and excellent balance let many species navigate terrain that was inaccessible to larger grazing man. mammals. Goats and sheep eventually evolved to live in more mountainous regions. Mountains gave them

Starting point is 00:03:41 access to vegetation that other herbivores couldn't reach, and steep cliffs and rocky outcrops also offered opportunities to escape predators. To consume this food, goats had to develop new behaviors to survive. Goats evolved a flexible browsing strategy that allowed them to consume leaves, shrubs, and other vegetation that many grazing animals largely avoid. Their digestion, digestive systems and feeding behavior allowed them to tolerate certain plant compounds, although many poisonous plants remain dangerous. Another trait that was developed for the mountains was their trademark agility. To survive, they had to climb trees and rocks,

Starting point is 00:04:20 so goats evolved muscles and bones better suited for rapid precise movement. Goats were among the earliest livestock animals domesticated by humans, with evidence dating back approximately 10,000 years. Their domestication occurred roughly at the same broad period as the domestication of sheep, pigs, and cattle somewhere in Southwest Asia. Not all wild animals are suitable for domestication. Typically, humans need animals who can live in herds, reproduce quickly, and can adapt to living in captivity.

Starting point is 00:04:53 Most animals can't do this, but goats can. Goat domestication probably didn't start with a single community. It occurred across several groups from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. The process of domestication is slow. Initially, people likely hunted goats for their meat, skin, and fur. However, over generations, human turned to managing and hurting goats. As this process continued, humans began protecting flocks from predators and controlling the goats' movements. This process worked relatively well because goats are social herd animals and naturally more docile.

Starting point is 00:05:31 This made them easier to manage in an aggressive or solitary species. Additionally, goats are naturally very adaptable. They could survive in different climates, harsh terrains, and areas with little vegetation. This meant that they could live where other livestock could not, making them particularly valuable. This meant that they could provide Neolithic farmers with a reliable source of food no matter where they went. Archaeological evidence of bones from the slaughter of yewifers. young goats suggest that domestication likely began between 10,500 and 9,500 years ago in modern-day Turkey and Iran. Genetic samples from goats in Asia, Africa, and Europe show genetic similarities

Starting point is 00:06:16 to those from the initial Neolithic sites, indicating that goat herders migrated to different regions, spreading domesticated goats either through migration or trade. Goats reached Greece approximately 8,500 to 9,000 years ago, as Neolithic farming communities spread out of Southwest Asia. Farming subsequently expanded into the Balkans and across Europe through both coastal routes and inland river valleys. Goats had reached much of Western Europe around 7,000 years ago, while they're spread into northern Europe continued over the following millennia. Similarly, domestic goats were brought into North Africa around 7,000 years ago. If you remember back to a previous episode, the

Starting point is 00:06:59 Sahara was once a vast grassland just a few thousand years ago. But as the Sahara became increasingly arid, pastoral communities spread into other parts of Africa, bringing their livestock with them. Both sheep and goats eventually reached southern Africa about 2,000 years ago. Domesticated goats spread eastward from southwest Asia into the Indian subcontinent and eventually into Southeast Asia. Genetic evidence indicates that these populations were connected to the original domestic goats from the Fertile Crescent, although the precise routes and chronology of their movement remains uncertain. When Europeans landed in the Americas and Oceana, they brought with them goats. During the early stages of domestication, there really wasn't a concept of different

Starting point is 00:07:47 breeds of goats. People just viewed them as goats. However, as goats migrated around the world, they found themselves in very different environments. Goat herders began selecting traits that helped goats adapt to their environment and to human needs. And this eventually led to the development of different goat breeds. One key variable in domestication is that the animal must lose enough fear of humans to accept being fed and cared for. In the early days of domestication, one of the first trait selected was for reduced fear of humans. Early goat genetic samples dating back about 8,100 years contain behavior-related genes that we still see in domestic goats today. Genetic evidence indicates that domestic goats began acquiring traits associated with resistance

Starting point is 00:08:37 to gastrointestinal pathogens more than 7,000 years ago. One important genetic variant appears to have originated through interbreeding with a wild goat relative that later spread widely in domestic populations. As goats became increasingly associated with farming communities, their diet, its change to include agricultural byproducts. Genetic studies have identified adaptations linked to these dietary changes. The researchers are still investigating the precise effects of individual genetic variants. Early signs of deliberate selection date back about 8,000 years when herders began selecting goats for fertility, size, and color. Different groups had different traits that they

Starting point is 00:09:18 preferred. Ancient Egyptian art shows that goats were already developing a variety of physical characteristics. Some had drooping ears while others had twisted horns or some were naturally hornless. These differences suggest that selective breeding was already influencing the appearance of goats thousands of years ago. In West Africa, people preferred different traits. West Africans wanted smaller goats because they were more adaptable to the difficult conditions that they lived in. They also selectively bred these goats to resist parasites that killed other livestock. The goat-type became known as the West African dwarf goat. This phenomenon can be seen basically everywhere goats went.

Starting point is 00:10:01 No matter how isolated the community, people preferred certain traits. And to create breeds, farmers selected specific goats to maximize numbers while keeping them healthy and strong, which strengthened the goat's breed identity. Although the term breed became part of everyday language as local populations developed distinct characteristics, such as the Spanish goats that migrated from South and Central America, into the United States, the formal concept of standardized breeds only arose in the last 250 years, primarily in Europe and North America. Examining the physical differences between wild and domesticated goats highlights which specific

Starting point is 00:10:40 characteristics were favored during domestication. Domesticated goats generally develop smaller and more variable body sizes than their wild ancestors. However, this difference varies considerably among breeds, and some modern domestic goats can rival or even exceed wild goats in size. Global estimates suggest that there are roughly 600 distinct goat breeds that are recognized today. Of these groups, dairy goats are the most defined breeds and have the longest breeding records. Popular dairy goat breeds include the Sannin, Alpine, La Mancha, Nubian, Toggenberg, Sable, and Nigerian Dwarf. Meat goat breeds include the boar, Kiko, and. in Spanish, while fiber breeds include the Angora and Kashmir.

Starting point is 00:11:26 Goat production is highest in lesser-developed countries. India is by far the largest goat-producing country in the world with 211 million goats, followed by China with 118 million, Nigeria with 91 million, Pakistan with 87 million, and Ethiopia with 54 million. Worldwide, there are approximately 1.19 billion goats. Goats are increasingly used in developed countries to clear unwanted vegetation through targeted grazing. Herds are brought into overgrown areas to consume invasive plants, brush, and vines that would otherwise require machinery or herbicides to remove. Their ability to navigate steep slopes and difficult terrain makes them especially useful in areas

Starting point is 00:12:14 where equipment can't reach. Goats are also used to reduce vegetation that can fuel wildfires. However, repeated grazing is often necessary to prevent unwanted plants from growing back. The domestication of goats was one of the earliest and most important steps in humanity's transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. What began as managing wild animals in the mountains of Southwest Asia eventually produced hundreds of breeds adapted to environments around the world. Goats provided early communities with reliable sources of meat, milk, and hides, while the remarkable adaptability let people settle in places where other livestock struggled to survive. Today, billions of people benefit directly or indirectly from an animal first tamed

Starting point is 00:13:02 roughly 10,000 years ago, making the humble goat one of the most successful domesticated animals. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ash. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. This is where everything happens that's outside of the show.

Starting point is 00:13:36 As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app, or in the above community groups, you two can have it read on the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Domestication of Goats

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