General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We DID PITT BULLS BEFORE! [View all]baldguy
(36,649 posts)Artificial selection isn't magic. It can't create traits that don't exist in an animal's genome. Cows can't be bred to sprout wings.
OTOH, artificial selection can bring about phenotypical expression of particular genes which do exist an animal's genome, but which may be "switched off". This is what is shown in the videos you posted. Canids have a wide range of genotypical variation, which is normally not expressed in the phenotypes of individuals. Artificial selection allows the breeder to bring out the expression of those variations.
What's interesting about those experiments is that the breeders only selected for one behavioral trait: docility toward humans, and de-selected for one trait: aggressiveness toward humans. Nothing else. Yet the resulting population displayed color variations in their coats, changes in their tails & ears, and the retention of other more "puppy-like" behavior which were not selected for.
How does this relate to Pit Bulls?
Well, first of all, Pit Bulls don't constitute a separate species from other dogs. All of the behaviors selected for during the creation of Canis lupus familiaris - everything that makes them a dog still exist today in all dogs - including the Pit Bull.
Second, as I've repeated several times: the primary traits dogs have been selected for throughout their history have been those which allow the dog to have the desire to please their human masters and to live in human society. Everything else - hunting, herding, sporting, whatever - is secondary. Your basic premise is that people will purposely & knowingly create things which will bring harm to themselves. Generally, as a group, people don't do that. And they certainly haven't done so with dogs.
And finally - and this has been repeated on DU before as well - there is no breed "Pit Bull". There are 6-7 distinct breeds which are tagged as Pit Bulls, all of which descend from common ancestors originating in the 18th & 19th century. These common ancestors descend from the original molosser line, which goes back about 4000 yrs - and whose descendants today include not just Pit Bulls, but some of the most popular and "gentlest" breeds around: the Boston Terrier, the French Bulldog, the German Shepherd dog, the Newfoundland dog, and Pugs. And they all still retain those traits commonly associated with Pit Bulls, even if those traits aren't expressed in their phenotype.
If, god forbid, anti-dog nutcases forced Pit Bulls to be driven to extinction, "forced selection can modify breed traits in a matter of a few decades" using these same breeds. The genes are all still there, and they're not going anywhere.
Thus Endeth The Lesson. My PIT BULL is demanding to be taken for a walk.