The relationships between tameness and social cognitive skills of domesticated animals

Abstract

Social behavior is a conspecific interaction and plays an important role in the survival of animals. In contrast, while heterospecific interaction largely refers to predator ― prey interaction, occasional instances of cooperative behavior can be found, for example, the interaction between domesticated animals and humans. Domestication involves breeding animals for generations to familiarize them with humans without fear. A major behavioral characteristic of domesticated animals is tameness which is divided into two categories. One is reluctant to avoid humans (passive tameness) and the other actively approaches humans (active tameness). Until now, however, little is known about the genetic, behavioral and neurological basis of these two categories of tameness. Here, we briefly review genetic and neurological research on tameness. Next, we explore the relationship between tameness and social cognitive skills of domesticated animals, such as dogs. Finally, we discuss the possibility of the same brain regions being used in both conspecific and heterospecific interactions.