the selective breeding of domestic plants and animals for desired traits
selective breeding to perpetuate desirable traits.
is practiced by breeders of various kinds of domestic animals, with matings set up to meet criteria of the breeders rather than in response to behavioral cues or survival requirements. Reluctant individuals may be forcibly bred, unhealthy or unsound animals given sufficient veterinary support to enable them to breed, and offspring removed from incompetent mothers for hand-rearing.
Differential reproduction within a population that is correlated with the genotypes of individuals and the result of purposeful breeding choices by humans. An example is the purposeful mating among the cobbyist-bodied Glosters in a stud to produce offspring that have bodies with more roundness than average.
The process of change and variation in a species by human intervention.
Differential reproduction within a population that is correlated with the genotypes of individuals and the result of purposeful breeding choices by humans. An example is the purposeful mating among the longest-horned cattle in a herd to produce offspring that have horns that are longer than average.
The process in which breeders choose the variants to be used to produce succeeding generations.
Selective breeding, carried out by humans, to produce a desired evolutionary response.
Selection that is under human control.
Process by which humans select one or more desirable genetic traits in the population of a plant or animal and then use selective breeding to end up with populations of the species containing large numbers of individuals with the desired traits. Compare genetic engineering, natural selection.
The process by which humans breed animals and cultivate crops to ensure that future generations have specific desirable characteristics. In artificial selection, breeders select the most desirable variants in a plant or animal population and selectively breed them with other desirable individuals. The forms of most domesticated and agricultural species have been produced by artificial selection; it is also an important experimental technique for studying evolution.
The process used in the domestication and refinement of plants and animals by which human beings select which members of a species will live and produce offspring. Humans make such decisions on the basis of their needs or desires concerning the form or behavior of the species—for example, plants that produce larger seeds, animals that produce woollier coats, or animals that produce more milk.
Artificial selection is the breeding of certain traits over others. It was originally defined by Charles Darwin in contrast to the process of natural selection, in which the differential reproduction of organisms with certain traits is attributed to improved survival and reproductive ability in the natural habitat of the organism. Artificial selection that produces an undesirable outcome from a human perspective is sometimes called negative selection (but note that this term has a better-established meaning as a type of natural selection).
