Rabbits and the Specious Origins of Domestication

Evan Irving-Pease , Laurent A.F. Frantz , Naomi Sykes , Cécile Callou (1) , Greger Larson (2)

1 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
2 University of Oxford [Oxford]

Rabbits are commonly thought to have been domesticated in AD600 by French monks. Using historical and archaeological records, and genetic methods, we demonstrate that this is a misconception and the general inability to date domestication stems from both methodological biases and the lack of appreciation of domestication as a continuum.

Keywords: Oryctolagus cuniculus; domestication

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Archaeology and Prehistory; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Ecology, environment; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biodiversity

Evan Irving-Pease, Laurent A.F. Frantz, Naomi Sykes, Cécile Callou, Greger Larson. Rabbits and the Specious Origins of Domestication. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2018, 33 (3), pp.149-152. ⟨10.1016/j.tree.2017.12.009⟩. ⟨mnhn-02103474⟩