Dwarfing

Dwarfing is a process in which a breed of animals or cultivar of plants is changed to become significantly smaller than standard members of their species. The effect can be induced through human intervention or non-human processes, and can include genetic, nutritional or hormonal means. Used most specifically, dwarfing includes pathogenic changes in the structure of an organism (for example, the bulldog, a genetically achondroplastic dog breed), in contrast to non-pathogenic proportional reduction in stature (such as the whippet, a small sighthound dog breed).[1]

  1. ^ Johnson, K.A. and Watson, A. D. J. "Skeletal Disorders" Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 5th Ed. Saunders(2000) Philadelphia Vol 2 pg 1898