A world without humans was a harsh place to live. An animal had to kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted. Survival of the fittest dictated the chance of passing on genes to the next generation — until human influence came into play.
Humans have an inherent adoration for things with round faces and big eyes, which evolved to make raising babies more enjoyable. Today, owning pets fulfills this desire. The domestication of dogs marked the beginning of society’s obsession with companion animals. Although these animals were originally kept for their ability to protect and provide, a pet’s value now lies in its ability to appeal to humans.
Wolves were tamed over 30,000 years ago, their original duty being hunting and defending. Their role as a guardian persisted through the domestication of farm animals, and they were selectively bred for endurance and speed while running and herding livestock.
As agriculture improved, the need for aggressive hunting dogs decreased. Instead, people began breeding smaller dogs in order to fit into small spaces to catch rodents. They also wanted dogs that matched their new lifestyle — less active, with more cuddling and time indoors.
Dog shows, also called conformation shows, measure how well canines can conform to their respective breed standards. A breed standard describes the ideal characteristics of each dog breed, including appearance, temperament, structure and abilities. These standards were created to preserve the unique features of each type of purebred canine but reduced these animals to something that could be graded with a rubric. Additionally, purebred dogs appealed more to the general public due to their consistent appearance, energy level and health — dogs of mixed breeds did not have the same predictability.
Unfortunately, many dog breeds developed health issues from excessive selective breeding, the most well-known being the pug. These designer dogs were originally bred as companions for the wealthy in China. The wrinkles on their faces were meant to mimic the Chinese word “prince,” which looks like three horizontal lines with a vertical line passing through them. Their popularity quickly spread across the globe, with pet owners falling in love with their small wrinkly faces and large black eyes. However, their flat faces obstruct their air passages, making breathing extremely difficult.
As cosmetic procedures progress, dogs can undergo surgery to fix these problems. Nose reformation, or the removal of the outer layer of skin above the nostril, is popular among pugs and bulldogs. Orthodontics and skin fold reduction surgeries were also created with the animal’s best interest in mind.
Other popular procedures include ear cropping and tail docking, with working dogs taking most of the brunt. Ear cropping was originally done to prevent injuries while hunting or fighting, and tail docking was thought to enhance a dog’s performance. However, these procedures have little benefit today and are done purely for appearance purposes.
Unfortunately, not all domesticated animals are as lucky as the dog. Pigeons, often dubbed rats with wings, are a famous example of artificial selection causing the demise of a species. Before wireless communication was invented, people domesticated carrier pigeons to send their messages. The pigeons were extremely reliable — 90% of them were able to deliver their messages, even if they were injured mid-trip. Messages were often bound to a pigeon’s leg, and miniature cameras were even attached to photograph enemy territory during World War I.
After wireless communication was commercialized, the need for pigeons was lost, so people began breeding pigeons for sport, just like with dogs. Pigeons were bred to have enlarged chests, curly feathers, permanently bent spines or long fan-shaped tails. However, there is one major difference between pigeons and dogs — pigeons have beady red eyes and sharp beaks, while puppies typically have large dark eyes and a round snout. The general population found the latter much more appealing, which is why dogs became a popular household pet. Pigeons were instead released into nature to fend for themselves, despite being unable to find their own food due to hundreds of generations of domestication.
Giant pandas are another example of how cuteness impacts the survival of a species. After they were declared endangered in 1990, people across the globe pitched in to ensure the chubby animal would not go extinct, despite them being ill-adapted to their environment. Even though their diet is mostly bamboo leaves, studies show that a panda’s digestive system contains bacteria that is more suited for a carnivorous diet. This causes them to be extremely inefficient when absorbing energy, leading to a lack of interest in reproduction. If natural selection were allowed to continue, pandas likely would have gone extinct — but humans decided to step in.
In addition to being a representative icon of China, pandas gained worldwide recognition for the large spots around their eyes, fluffy bodies and clumsy movements — they resemble babies, so humans find them endearing. According to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Malaysia, around $255 million is spent on funding panda reserves per year, which greatly contrasts with other endangered animals that receive insufficient funding.
This is due to a hierarchy of charismatic animals that exists in people’s minds. People tend to prefer land animals to sea creatures, and larger animals have a greater appeal than their smaller counterparts. A species’s cuteness depends on how human-like people find them. The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered program provides a graph of the funding provided to each family of endangered animals by separating them into four categories. Mammals come first, followed by birds, amphibians, reptiles and corals respectively. While 30% of mammal species receive very low funding, nearly 60% of reptiles and 70% of coral are severely underfunded.
As biotechnology advances, scientists can take artificial selection to the next level. In 2009, the first transgenic dogs were created in South Korea. A transgenic organism is created by artificially integrating the genome of one species into another’s DNA. In the case of the Ruppy, short for Ruby Puppy, a red fluorescent protein from sea anemone was inserted into the cells of the dog. After birth, the dogs are able to glow under ultraviolet light.
Recent technological advancements have also led to Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which allow scientists to genetically engineer a section of the DNA of an organism. Unlike transgenic organisms, CRISPR can target specific sections of an animal’s DNA. With this tool, scientists can modify an organism’s traits instantly, without going through the process of selective breeding.
This method of artificial selection can be seen in GloFish, which are the first genetically modified pet in America. They have the ability to glow in the dark, which is achieved through the insertion of the DNA that codes for fluorescent protein in jellyfish.
Both Ruppies and GloFish have traits that would have been impossible to evolve in nature. If a wild animal had a genetic mutation to cause them to glow in the dark, they would immediately be seen by predators and would not be able to pass on their genes to the next generation. Natural selection would not allow for a glow-in-the-dark land animal to evolve. Through genetic engineering, humans have been able to alter natural selection to make animals display traits they find appealing.
Though pets were domesticated to physically aid humans, their ability to succeed in society now lies in how cute they are. New technological advancements have also allowed humanity to code desired traits into each species, but it is only done to make the animal more appealing to humans.
