tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1222590081823739642.post197299112093392034..comments2024-03-28T07:28:58.459-07:00Comments on The Breeding-back Blog: Is it legitimate to speak of a "new aurochs"?Daniel Foidlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02924677790606716751noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1222590081823739642.post-73000936314209071642017-08-17T01:42:11.284-07:002017-08-17T01:42:11.284-07:00If one day aurochs would be truly recreated using ...If one day aurochs would be truly recreated using cloning or CRISPR-Cas6, hybrids between aurochs and aurochs-like cattle should in my eyes be called exactly that: hybrids; of course it depends on the degree of hybridization. If you'd achieve a population of recreated aurochs that is 90-95% pure, I have no objections to calling them aurochs (with signs of cattle hybridizations). The majority of all extant American bison have cattle hybrids in their ancestry too. <br />Yes, hybridization with domestic counterparts happened in a lot of species. Wolves, wild boar, horses... Basically all of them. But the difference is: the influence was always small enough not to greatly alter the integrity of the animals, their integrity as wild animals in particular. So it depends on the degree of hybridization. Maybe to some, 80% purity is acceptable already, but to me it is the genetic integrity of the important, defining traits that count. <br />By the way, I preparing a blogpost on exactly that issue at the moment. There I will go into these aspects on a greater detail. Daniel Foidlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02924677790606716751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1222590081823739642.post-38174868003764261722017-08-16T23:56:36.795-07:002017-08-16T23:56:36.795-07:00With advances in genome editing technologies and t...With advances in genome editing technologies and the potential in the near future for an aurochs to be truly resurrected in a genetic sense, would it be fair to call cattle that are crossed with these 'de-extinct' aurochs, aurochs? <br />As I believe you've mentioned before, it would be still necessary for genetic diversity to cross any such animals with 'advanced' cattle from backbreeding projects (or perhaps releasing a herd into the OVP would do the job).<br />In your opinion, would the hypothetical offspring of these animals, dedomesticated aurochs like cattle with recent introgression from true aurochs, qualify as wild animals once again and earn the right to be called aurochs or aurochs 2.0?<br />After all, don't most living Przewalskis have historic introgression from domestic and allegedly 'tarpan' mares?<br /><br />ThanksAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801449395095905672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1222590081823739642.post-28805250615314130752017-08-03T04:07:02.891-07:002017-08-03T04:07:02.891-07:00Yes, horses' behaviour towards remains domesti...Yes, horses' behaviour towards remains domestic to some degree even living feral for some time. Cattle are known to develop shyness rather quickly while horses have remained quite tame or even obtrusive in grazing projects, what can cause problems. <br />When I referred to behaviour in the article, I was mainly talking about social behaviour, natural instincts (f.e. herding, against predators etc.). Not only how they behave towards humans. Daniel Foidlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02924677790606716751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1222590081823739642.post-76492477117461507142017-08-02T19:52:29.794-07:002017-08-02T19:52:29.794-07:00One difference between Przewalski's horse and ...One difference between Przewalski's horse and a horse that feral for centuries, the Banker horse of North Carolina, is that you can not train Przewalski's horse for riding, but you can train a Banker horse for riding. I did see a video of a woman who was working on training a Przewalski for riding. She had already done it with a zebra, but it's a totally different process taking days for habituation with a young animal. Also in the book Beyond Words, the author states that no feral animal has ever regained the larger brain size of their wild ancestor. Just thought these two subject were germain to what you're talking about here. <br /><br />avengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07336474827528124668noreply@blogger.com