Can behavior traits be selectively bred? V 1.0

[razeraze]

This is version 1 of the debate "Can behavior traits be selectively bred?". This is not a place to insult, mock, degrade or put down members for their views. Engage the debate in the spirit in which it is meant to be debated.

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This is a debate on behavior which includes all things behavior related including disease, hormones, genetics, organs, brain functions, conditioning, instinct, learned response or any behavior trait that may or may not be affected by selective breeding.

Thank you for your participation.

[mpgt]

I've always felt that temperament was partially genetic. I'd love to hear some input from breeders, as to whether they see inherited disposition traits, or if they selectively breed for temperament.

[BWSmith]

Some animals ARE more predisposed to certain behaviors. We see this with rattlesnakes that are less apt to rattle. These have a greater chance of survival in that those that are obvious by audible warnings around humans are more likely to be killed. Those that are passed by unnoticed survive and breed. So logically, natural selection would favor this trait.

I have also noticed a dramatic decrease in the "aggressiveness" of retics over the last 15 years or so. I remember when it was unheard of to have on that could actually be handled. But as the number of captive generations has grown, we are seen many more docile retics. Afrocks are notorious for their temperament as well, but have been bred in captivity significantly less and most specimens that I come across are still quite nasty. So whether being docile is a genetic trait or predisposition that can be passed on is unclear. This is just an anecdotal observation.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is Drymarchon who are notoriously picky feeders as neonates that often take quite a lot of work to get going. I know breeders that have held back the first feeders of each clutch in the hopes that the good feeding response out of the egg was genetic. Thus far, there seems to be no tangible reason why some feed more readily and efforts to promote this trait by selective breeding have proven fairly fruitless.

[Hairless]

New Breed of Fox as Tame as a Pussycat - New York Times

I don't think there is any question that breeding for behavior is being done and has been done for a very long time.

Dogs are a perfect example.
Dogs are bred for behavior. An abusive example is people who breed dogs to fight. They only breed the most aggressive dogs to get more aggressive dogs. In fact a recent raid on a pro football players fighting dog breeding program resulted in some relevant info: They now have dogs so aggressive that a female in heat would rather fight a male wanting to breed than to breed him. The breeders have equipment called "rape stands". This equipment is designed to restrain the female so she can't attack the male during breeding. A simple muzzle wouldn't work because the female would exhaust herself trying to attack the male. Some might argue that this is trained behavior and certainly this is an influence, but the dogs showing the most trainable aggression response produced 'better' dogs for their sick purpose.

The bordie Collie has been selectively bred for behaviors needed to herd sheep by only breeding the best dogs at herding. A good herder doesn't need training. So you could call it instinct and some might argue there is a difference between instinct and behavior. Even so, it is instinct that has a set of behaviors needed for the purpose.

Look at the different behaviors associated with different dog breeds. Genetics have proved all dogs came from wolves. The differences between the various breeds have amazing behavioral differences and they all came from an animal (wolf) which doesn't tame readily. These various behaviors were bred into dog breeds.

Examples with dogs could go on and on...
There are some good university studies (long reads) that further show the results for selective behavior breeding.

[BWSmith]

But the brain size and learning capability of dogs is pretty extraordinary among animals and they have been domesticated for thousands of years. Reptiles have much simpler brains and are less removed from wild counterparts even after years of captive breeding. The conversation really needs to be narrowed to herps. We can't compare dogs and frogs with viable results.

[spix14]

Originally Posted by BWSmith

I have also noticed a dramatic decrease in the "aggressiveness" of retics over the last 15 years or so. I remember when it was unheard of to have on that could actually be handled. But as the number of captive generations has grown, we are seen many more docile retics. Afrocks are notorious for their temperament as well, but have been bred in captivity significantly less and most specimens that I come across are still quite nasty. So whether being docile is a genetic trait or predisposition that can be passed on is unclear. This is just an anecdotal observation.

I think the same thing is being noticed in ETBs and GTPs. I remember all you used to hear was how nasty and aggressive they were, but now that more and more of them are being bred in captivity you see larger and larger numbers of docile, handleable animals popping up.