Chapter 3: A Sniff of Love
How social hormones influence our relationships and longevity
How humans self-domesticated
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"On one youtube video, Boris and Sophie, two rather cute pets, show off their tricks: they sit and lay down when prompted, then shake paws and spin in exchange for treats. If it wasn’t for their magnificent, bushy tails and unusually high-pitched yelps, the animals could have been mistaken for dogs. In reality, Boris and Sophie are foxes — domesticated silver foxes from Siberia, to be precise.
In 1959 a Russian geneticist named Dmitry Belyaev set up to test a new research idea: he started breeding wild silver foxes, selecting the animals for their lack of aggression or fear towards humans. Yet after a few years — or about eight to ten fox generations — a weird thing happened: some of the foxes started to resemble dogs in both their behaviour and looks....." [excerpt from Growing Young]
Chimps (left) vs bonobos (right) -- they make look similar, but they behave very differently (tip: while you might wander into a cage full of bonobos and leave unscathed, venturing into chimp territory is far more dangerous)
Domesticated animals have white forehead patches and white tips of tails -- here Roger, my cocker spaniel. Domestication is also the reason why humans have pink lips, and so do bonobos.
Good animal moms have oxytocin-loaded kids.
For further reading:
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Can oxytocin sprays make your partner more faithful?
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What are the links between social hormones and living to 100?
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Can some gene polymorphisms make you more prone to thinking about divorce?
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Why do humans have pink lips (and what does it say about our characters)?
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Can looking into your dog's eyes boost your health?
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Why are hugs good for longevity?
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Answers to these questions (and much more!) in the book
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