Season 1 Episode 2: Chapter I - Variation Under Domestication

 
This is episode 2 of the series and we read and discuss&nbspChapter One from Origin of Species entitled Variation Under Domestication. We talked about the great diversity of pigeon breeds that Darwin was impressed with and used as a model to explain how selective breeding can create new varieties and forms. Scroll down on this website to see a nice slide show of Pigeon Breeds.


James made the claim that giraffe's necks are actually short compared to other herbivores in Africa and this photo shows a giraffe having to kneel to drink water where the zebras have no problem reaching the water with their long necks.
Giraffe and group of Burchell's zebras drinking at a waterhole in Kruger NP by Holger Karius on Dreamstime.com

The scientific paper that Sarah referenced concerning a current view of dog evolution can be found here.
 
Wired magazine wrote a nice summary of the cattle evolution story and it can be found here.







Interlude music within the podcast is "Vadodora Chill Mix" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/