The domesticated silver fox (Vulpes vulpes forma amicus) is a form of the silver fox that has been to some extent domesticated under laboratory conditions. The silver fox is a melanistic form of the wild red fox. Domesticated silver foxes are the result of an experiment designed to demonstrate the power of selective breeding to transform species, as described by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species.[1] The experiment at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia explored whether selection for behaviour rather than morphology may have been the process that had produced dogs from wolves, by recording the changes in foxes when in each generation only the most tame foxes were allowed to breed. Many of the descendant foxes became both tamer and more dog-like in morphology, including displaying mottled- or spotted-coloured fur.[2][3]
In 2019, an international research team questioned the conclusion that this experiment had provided strong support for the validity of domestication syndrome. They did conclude that it remains "a resource for investigation of the genomics and biology of behavior".[4][5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Darwin (1859)was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Trut (1999)was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Trut (2017)was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Famous Fox Domestication Experiment Challenged". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Lord, Kathryn A.; Larson, Greger; Coppinger, Raymond P.; Karlsson, Elinor K. (2020). "The History of Farm Foxes Undermines the Animal Domestication Syndrome" (PDF). Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 35 (2): 125–136. Bibcode:2020TEcoE..35..125L. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2019.10.011. PMID 31810775.