A Note on Foxes

And no, I'm not talking about Alison Doody.

I heard about a Russian fox sanctuary trying to beef up the numbers of the Siberian fox; a captive breeding and re-introduction kind of thing. They discovered two things; one early, and one later.

The first thing they discovered, when they were possibly not acting in the best interests of any sense of re-introduction, was to bring in kits, little fox puppies, into their "home" and treat them like a family dogs. Do you know what happens when you bring a fox kit into your house and treat it like a puppy? Pretty much exactly the same thing as happens with dogs; they're lovable, loyal, and playful.

Not every single one was easily domesticated--some were still ornery. So they started to breed the nicer, more mellow foxes with other nicer, more mellow foxes. They realized while they were doing it that they were selecting for behavior. This led to their second discovery.

By selecting for behavior they got kits that were well behaved, of course, but they were surprised by the other changes, physical changes. Among the changes were bigger ears, curly tails, whiter fur, longer legs...the foxes were becoming even cuter.

Selecting for behavior led to physical changes in Siberian fox appearances that were pleasing to humans.

Then the researchers realized that this makes sense, since the DNA of a Great Dane, a Chihuahua, and a wild wolf from Yellowstone Park is the same. The domestication of the wolf has been a long process--a fifteen-thousand-year-long process--but it started with, most likely as this Russian study has shown, selecting wolf pups for behavior. If physical appearance changes can be seen in only a few breeding cycles in foxes, then given the fifteen-thousand year period for the wolf/dog, the dimorphism (Great Danes vs Chihuahuas; Mastiffs vs Shi-tzus) doesn't seem so shocking.

And, by the way, Alison Doody, whose name cracks me up, is an Irish actress who was offered the lead role in Basic Instinct, the role that eventually went to Sharon Stone. Miss Doody turned it down for being too sexually explicit. Lovers of cinema would remember her as Ilsa, the blond Nazi who seduces both Sean Connery (albeit off-screen) and Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.