Title: Assignment 3- Belyaev Fox Experiment
Course: Introduction to Wolf Ethology

Read the article entitled: Fox Experiment

Answer the following questions…

What is pedomorphosis?

What are examples of morphological pedomorphosis? What are some behavioral examples?

Belyaev believed that the patterns of changes observed in domesticated animals resulted from genetic changes that occurred in the course of selection. Belyaev, however, believed that the key factor selected for was not size or reproduction, but behavior. What was the behavior that he believe determined how well an animal could adapt to life among human beings?

In figure 2 of the article, Belyaev lists 7 traits characteristic throughout domesticated animals. What are these 7 traits found in domestic, but not their wild counterparts?

What were the methods of his experiment to study the morphological and physical changes during domestication?

What were the physical changes of the animals in his experiment?

What were the social behavioral changes?

In figure 8, there was a percentage increase in physical characteristics between the foxes that were in the domestication experiment versus the non-domesticated sample. List the 3 highest percentages and list the characteristic with each percentage.

In your opinion (no points attached), do you feel this research and animal management was warranted and ethical?