Domesticated silver fox
Selectively bred silver foxes showing tameness and dog-like traits.
The domesticated silver fox (Vulpes vulpes forma amicus) is a type of silver fox—itself a dark-coated version of the wild red fox—that has been partly tamed in a lab setting. This animal came out of an experiment meant to show how selective breeding can reshape a species, an idea Charles Darwin laid out in *On the Origin of Species*. The work took place at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia. Researchers wanted to see if picking animals for behavior instead of physical traits could explain how wolves turned into dogs. They did this by letting only the calmest foxes reproduce and then watching what happened. Over time, many of the offspring grew tamer and also developed more dog-like features, such as fur with patches or spots. In 2019, an international team of scientists questioned whether this experiment really proved the idea of domestication syndrome. Still, they agreed it remains a useful tool for studying the genetics and biology of behavior.
- Species
- Vulpes vulpes forma amicus
- Origin
- Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia
- Field
- Domestication biology, genetics
- Known for
- Selective breeding for tameness producing dog-like morphological changes
- Experiment start
- 1952
- Key researchers
- Dmitry Belyayev, Lyudmila Trut
Lore & Background
Dmitry Belyayev questioned how canine breed diversity arose from lupine ancestors, confident the answer lay in Mendelian inheritance. He hypothesized that all domesticated species had been selected for tameness, which dragged along other features like droopy ears and white fur patches. To test this, he chose the silver fox because it is a social animal related to the dog, though it had never before been domesticated. Lyudmila Trut managed the program, beginning in 1952 by collecting the tamest foxes from fur farms, starting with 30 male foxes and 100 vixens from a commercial fur farm in Estonia. Foxes were selected solely for tameness, with less than 20 percent of individuals allowed to breed each generation. They were not trained, to ensure tameness was genetic.
Reader's Guide
The domesticated silver fox experiment is significant for testing whether selection for behavior alone could produce the suite of traits seen in domesticated animals, a hypothesis called domestication syndrome. Belyayev theorized that tameness was the critical factor, and the experiment showed that after generations of selecting only the least fearful and least aggressive foxes, many descendant foxes became tamer and more dog-like in morphology, including mottled- or spotted-colored fur. Changes appeared as early as the second generation, with tail wagging by the fourth generation and floppy ears and piebald coloration by the tenth generation. However, in 2019 an international research team questioned whether the experiment provided strong support for domestication syndrome, though they concluded it remains a resource for investigating the genomics and biology of behavior. The experiment thus preserves an ongoing scientific debate about the mechanisms of domestication.
Did You Know?
- By the 20th generation, 35% of foxes were classified as 'domesticated elite', and by the 30th generation, 70% to 80% were elite.
- Floppy ears and piebald coloration appeared in the tenth generation of tame-selected foxes.
More in Animal breeds originating in the Soviet Union 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced