Pets and livestock have long been selected based on traits such as friendliness, diet, and ease of management. But not every animal that could be useful ever got the spotlight.

Animal domestication did not begin as an invention but as a gradual shift in behavior, trust, and control between species.

Raccoons that live near humans had shorter snouts than rural raccoons, a trait that tends to arise in the early stages of domestication. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...