• stenAanden@feddit.dk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 hours ago

    I honestly wonder if we actually COULD domesticate zebras but it would taking centuries or millennia. Just like other domesticated species.

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 hours ago

      Selective breeding is no different than natural evolution in how drastically it can change an organism given enough time and the right selections for “fitness”.

      So you could produce a domesticated, tame zebra – but waiting on and favoring the right mutations would take a very long time and be prohibitively expensive. It’s possible, but not realistically feasible.

    • Chais@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 hours ago

      No. Zebras don’t have a herd hierarchy we can exploit. With horses you pick out the lead horse, tame it and boom, the whole herd follows you.
      With zebras you get one zebra, of you’re very lucky. More likely you’ll get kicked and bitten.