Animal Domestication Histories

Cat (Felis silvestris)
Although available evidence makes it difficult to say, the modern day cat was permanently domesticated about 4000 years ago, in Egypt.

Cattle (Bos spp)
Although evidence for hunting wild forms of cattle exists on some of to our earliest days on the planet, herding cattle was first accomplished in Western Asia by about 6000 BC, and in the eastern Sahara desert about 1000 years earlier.

Chicken (Gallus domesticus)
When and where chickens were domesticated is something of a puzzle, but most likely it was about 8,000 years ago in Thailand.

Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)
When and where the partnership of dog and humans first occurred is currently under considerable debate.

Donkey (Equus asinus)
The modern donkey (Equus asinus) was bred from the wild African ass (E. africanus spp) in northeastern Africa during the predynastic period of Egypt, about 6,000 years ago.

Goats (Capra hircus)
Domestic goats (Capra hircus) were domesticated between 10,500-10,800 years ago, in Southwestern Asia.

Horse (Equus caballus)
The modern domesticated horse (Equus caballus) is spread throughout the world and is among the most diverse creatures on the planet.

Llama and Alpaca (Lama glama and Lama pacos)
Llamas and alpacas are two species of camelid (camels) native to South America. Both of them were domesticated in the Andean highlands about 6,000-7,000 years ago.

Pig (Sus scrofa)
The domestication history of pigs includes an interesting variation on a theme: although like many other animals and plants pigs were brought to Europe, pigs are native to Europe, and that complicates things quite a bit.

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)
Reindeer, or caribou, were first domesticated about 3000 years ago--much later than any other animal domesticate. Why that should be is an interesting puzzle.

Sheep (Ovis aries)
The sheep is one of the earliest animals ever domesticated, more than 10,000 years ago, and from several subspecies of the wild mouflon.

Silkworm (Bombyx mori)
The use of the silk worm species Bombyx to produce cloth was invented at least as early as the Longshan period (3500-2000 BC), and perhaps earlier.

Turkey (Meleagris gallapavo)
The turkey (Meleagris gallapavo) was definitely domesticated in the New World, but its specific origins are somewhat problematic.