Guns, Germs, and Steel 3

Chapter 9 of Guns, Germs, and Steel explains why some animals and plants were domesticated and some were not. The mystery is that most major domesticated animals were domesticated very early on. These major animals are what Jared Diamond calls "The Major Fourteen". After the last of the 14 was domesticated (several thousand years ago), there has been little progress in the domestication of animal life. That is to say that no new animal has been added to the Major 14 for thousands of years. This seems strange at first because surely technological advancements over time would allow for domestication of more species. But Diamond explains that there are several key factors that determine where or not an animal is worth domesticating. There are 6 reasons in all: Diet, Growth Rate, Problems of Captive Breeding, Nasty Disposition, Tendency to Panic, and Social Structure. All of these qualities are vital to the domestication of any animal. If an animal is lacking just one of these characteristics it is rendered unable to be domesticated.