It is often stated that dogs are man’s best friend. Why do you think this is the case? Why do two species which are so different from one another, get along so well. The answer lies in something called artificial selection.

What is artificial selection? Artificial selection, or selective breeding as it is often called, is the process of choosing which individuals will be allowed to reproduce and which will not. In the case of dogs, this means that humans choose whether a dog should breed based on its looks and personality. For example, humans might want a dog to be smaller in size, so they would only breed the smallest dogs. Artificial selection is the reason that most domesticated animals look the way they do today.

Artificial selection has also lead to major changes in crops. For example, 10,000 years ago corn was very short and had small cobs with just a few rows of kernels. Today’s corn is much larger and has many rows of kernels, also known as maize.

Another example of artificial selection involves a certain type of wild tomato. Wild tomatoes today look somewhat different from modern day cultivated tomatoes. Wild tomatoes tend to be yellowish in color, much smaller, and have a more tart taste than that of a modern day cultivated tomato. Humans selectively bred tomatoes to be red and sweeter tasting, as well as larger and more convenient for transport and shipping.

Humans had a large role in the evolution of other lifeforms through artificial selection. At first, we thought we were simply modifying organisms to make them better for us, but now we know that the process of selection changes the organisms themselves. With artificial selection, humans have changed other lifeforms to fit our own needs, based on what is best for us. This has lead to major modifications in many different species around the world.