Selective breeding

• Selective breeding

  Also called artificial selection
• Selective breeding

  • Humans take wild animals and through selective breeding over many generations produce domesticated animals with desired traits
  • Humans take wild plants and through selective breeding over many generations produce domesticated crops with desired traits
• Humans took wolves


  Through selective breeding over thousands of years produced the dogs that we see today
• Examples of selective breeding

  • Domestic dogs selectively bred to have a gentle nature
  • Food crops such as wheat selectively bred to be resistant to disease
  • Animals such as cows selectively bred to produce more meat or milk
  • Certain plants selectively bred to produce large or unusual flowers
• Selective breeding process

  1. Take a mixed population

  2. Select the largest male and female

  3. Breed these together

  4. Select the largest offspring

  5. Breed the largest offspring together

  6. Repeat over many generations
• Inbreeding can cause some breeds to be prone to disease or inherited defects
• Many dog breeds develop inherited disorders such as joint problems, heart disease or epilepsy due to selective breeding over hundreds of generations