The Geography of Livestock

Summary

This script explores the origins and domestication of various livestock, highlighting how early humans adapted to survive during the Ice Age by incorporating animal meat into their diet. It delves into the history of animals like chickens, cows, pigs, and more, revealing fascinating facts about their domestication and cultural significance. From the red junglefowl to the aurochs, the narrative uncovers the stories behind our modern-day livestock and their impact on human civilization.

Takeaways

• 🌱 Early humans and hominid species like australopithecus relied on gathering and foraging for survival before the advent of farming.
• ❄️ The onset of an Ice Age led to food scarcity, prompting australopithecus to consume lower quality plants, while homo sapiens turned to meat and bone marrow for protein and nutrients.
• 🥩 The consumption of meat is believed to have played a crucial role in the survival and evolution of homo sapiens, distinguishing them from other hominid species like australopithecus.
• 🐓 Domestication of animals began as a means to create a reliable food source without the need for hunting, starting with chickens around 7,400 years ago in China.
• 🐔 For the first 5,000 years after domestication, chickens were primarily used for cockfighting rather than for consumption, with the first evidence of farming and eating chickens appearing in ancient Israel.
• 🐄 Cattle, or cows, are one of the oldest domesticated animals, tracing back to the aurochs and originating from modern-day Turkey, with a significant impact on early economies and cultures.
• 🐖 Pigs, or swine, were domesticated from the Eurasian boar and have a broad historical range, with domestication likely occurring in the same region as cattle, in modern-day Turkey.
• 🦃 The name 'turkey' originates from the country Turkey due to the Ottoman Empire's role in distributing the bird throughout Europe and Britain after European explorers introduced it from North America.
• 🐑 Sheep and goats have similar origins, both being domesticated in the Mesopotamian region, possibly in modern-day Turkey, with sheep originating from the mouflon and goats from the bezoar ibex.
• 🐴 Horses were domesticated on the pontic steppe, contributing significantly to human mobility and warfare, with the earliest evidence of domestication found in Russia and Kazachstan.
• 🐪 Camels, including the dromedary and bactrian varieties, have distinct origins with the former from Arabia and the latter from Bactria, playing essential roles in trade and transportation across arid regions.

Q & A

What was the main source of food for early humans and other hominid species like australopithecus before the advent of farming?

Early humans and hominid species such as australopithecus primarily relied on collecting fruits, tree bark, tree roots, and insects for sustenance.

How did the onset of an Ice Age affect the food sources for early humans?

The Ice Age led to long periods of cold temperatures and food shortages, prompting a change in the dietary habits of early humans and other species to adapt to the scarcity.

What dietary adaptation did australopithecus make to overcome the challenges posed by the Ice Age?

Australopithecus adapted by consuming a higher quantity of lower quality plants, such as weeds and grasses, to cope with the food shortages during the Ice Age.

How did homo sapiens, the direct ancestors of modern humans, differ in their dietary adaptation compared to australopithecus during the Ice Age?

Homo sapiens found that animal meat and bone marrow could supplement their diet during times of scarcity, providing greater amounts of protein and access to different important nutrients.

What is the significance of the domestication of animals in human history?

Domestication allowed humans to have a reliable source of food without constantly putting themselves in danger, and it led to the development of practices such as animal breeding and farming.

What is the origin of the term 'chicken' and its relation to the term 'fowl'?

The term 'chicken' originally referred to the young ones of the species, while 'fowl' was used for the whole species, which is why all young birds are still called chicks.

What is the earliest evidence of chicken domestication, and where did it occur?

The earliest definitive evidence of chicken domestication comes from Hebei province in China, occurring around 7,400 years ago.

Why were chickens initially domesticated, and when did their use for consumption begin?

Chickens were initially domesticated for cock fighting as entertainment and gambling for the first 5,000 years. The first evidence of chickens being farmed and eaten comes from the ancient Israeli city of Maresha, around 2,300 years ago.

What is the wild ancestor of domesticated cows, and where did they likely originate from?

The wild ancestor of domesticated cows is the auroch, which likely originated from around 80 aurochs near the villages of Çatalhöyük in modern-day Turkey.

How did the domestication of pigs relate to their geographical origin and the term 'swine'?

Pigs, or swine, were domesticated from the Eurasian boar, which had a wide range across Europe and Asia, but it is believed that they were domesticated in the same region as cows, likely south-central Turkey.

What is the origin of the domestication of turkeys, and how did they get their name?

Turkeys originated from the wild turkeys in North America and were named after the country Turkey due to their association with the guineafowl trade in the Ottoman Empire, where they were further domesticated and distributed.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 Early Human Survival and the Role of Meat

This paragraph discusses the early human lifestyle prior to the invention of farming, focusing on the consumption of fruits, tree bark, roots, and insects. It highlights the climate change that led to the Ice Age and the subsequent food shortages. The narrative contrasts the survival strategies of australopithecus, which turned to lower quality plants, with homo sapiens, who began to rely more on animal meat and bone marrow for protein and nutrients. The paragraph suggests that these dietary changes contributed to the survival of homo sapiens and the extinction of australopithecus. It also touches on the concept of domestication and the development of livestock, starting with the domestication of chickens from the red junglefowl in China around 7,400 years ago and their spread across different regions. Interestingly, the initial purpose of chicken domestication was for cockfighting rather than farming or consumption, which only began in Maresha, Israel, 2,300 years ago.

05:00

🐄 Domestication of Cattle and Other Livestock

The second paragraph delves into the domestication history of various livestock animals. It begins with the cow, tracing its lineage back to the now-extinct aurochs and the early domestication efforts in modern-day Turkey, leading to the taurine and indicine breeds. The paragraph also covers the historical significance of cows as a form of currency and the current distribution of cattle populations, particularly in India and Brazil. Moving on to pigs, it explains the etymology of 'pig' and 'swine' and the domestication of the Eurasian boar in Turkey. The narrative continues with turkeys, discussing their mistaken association with Turkey due to trade history, and sheep and goats, which were domesticated from the mouflon and bezoar ibex, respectively, in the Mesopotamian region. The paragraph concludes with the domestication of horses in the Pontic steppe and donkeys from the African wild ass, as well as camels and their two distinct types, the dromedary and the bactrian.

10:03

🐑 Livestock in Mountainous Regions and Beyond

This paragraph explores the domestication and uses of livestock that are adapted to mountainous regions, such as yaks, which are similar to cows but adapted for cold climates and known for their grunting sounds. It also mentions llamas and alpacas, which are native to the Andes and often confused due to their similarities, with a focus on their size differences and geographical ranges. The paragraph then shifts to discuss non-food livestock, such as silkworms, which produce silk and were domesticated in China about 5,000 years ago, and honey bees, which are valued for their honey, wax, and pollination services. The western honeybee, in particular, is highlighted as the most popular species, with its origins traced back to Africa and evidence of domestication dating back to ancient Egypt, where tombs depict beekeeping practices from 9,000 years ago.

Keywords

💡Ice Age

The Ice Age refers to a period of long-term reduction in Earth's temperature, resulting in the expansion of ice sheets and glaciers. In the video, the Ice Age is mentioned as a significant climate change event that influenced early humans and hominid species, such as australopithecus, to adapt their diets due to food scarcity caused by the harsh conditions.

💡australopithecus

Australopithecus is a genus of early hominids that lived between approximately 4 million and 2 million years ago. The script discusses how australopithecus, unlike homo sapiens, adapted to the Ice Age by consuming lower quality plants, which is believed to have contributed to their eventual extinction.

💡homo sapiens

Homo sapiens is the species to which all modern humans belong. The video explains that homo sapiens, in contrast to australopithecus, turned to animal meat and bone marrow during times of food scarcity, which provided essential nutrients and helped them survive and eventually thrive.

💡domestication

Domestication is the process by which humans have taken wild species and bred them over generations for various purposes, such as for food, work, or companionship. The script explores the domestication of various animals, such as chickens and cows, and how this process has shaped human civilization and the animals themselves.

💡livestock

Livestock refers to animals that are raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and other animal products. The video discusses different types of livestock, including chickens and cows, and how their domestication has led to their widespread use in human societies.

💡red junglefowl

The red junglefowl is a bird species native to the tropical forests of India, China, and Southeast Asia. The script explains that the modern-day chicken is a domesticated form of the red junglefowl, highlighting the origins and spread of domesticated chickens from ancient China.

💡auroch

The auroch is an extinct species of large wild cattle that was the ancestor of domestic cattle. The video mentions that the domesticated cow we know today likely originated from a small number of aurochs near Çatal Hüyük in modern-day Turkey, emphasizing the significance of this region in cattle domestication.

💡zebu

Zebu, also known as indicine cows, are a type of cattle that are notably different from the more common taurine cows, featuring a large hump on their back. The script explains that zebu originated from a separate domestication event near the Indus River in modern-day Pakistan, and their unique characteristics make them distinct from other types of cattle.

💡Eurasian boar

The Eurasian boar is a wild species native to Europe and Asia, from which domestic pigs are descended. The video discusses the domestication of the Eurasian boar in the Tigris river basin, which is the same region where cattle were domesticated, indicating a shared history for these two types of livestock.

💡mouflon

The mouflon is a wild sheep species that was the ancestor of modern domestic sheep. The script describes the mouflon as having a cooler appearance than modern sheep and being one of the first animals to be domesticated by the Mesopotamians around 11,000 years ago.

💡bezoar ibex

The bezoar ibex is a wild goat species that has the largest horns relative to body size of any animal on Earth. The video explains that domestic goats likely originated from the bezoar ibex, which had a range from the Zagros mountains to Turkey and the Caucasus, indicating a geographical overlap with other early domestications.

Highlights

Early humans and hominid species like australopithecus relied on foraging for survival before the advent of farming.

An Ice Age led to food scarcity, prompting australopithecus to consume lower quality plants, while homo sapiens turned to animal meat and bone marrow for protein and nutrients.

Different feeding habits between australopithecus and homo sapiens are believed to have contributed to the former's extinction.

Domestication of animals began as a means to have a reliable food source without the need for hunting.

Chickens, or 'fowl', originated from the red junglefowl and were first domesticated in Hebei province, China around 7,400 years ago.

For the first 5,000 years after domestication, chickens were used primarily for cock fighting rather than farming or consumption.

The shift to farming and consuming chickens began around 2,300 years ago in the ancient Israeli city of Maresha.

Cows, or 'cattle', have a wild ancestor called the 'auroch' and were likely first domesticated from a small population near Çaöynü Tepesi in Turkey.

India and Brazil are the top two countries in terms of cow population, with India hosting over 300 million cows.

Pigs, or 'swine', were domesticated from the Eurasian boar, with origins in southeast Asia around 2,000,000 years ago.

Turkeys were named after the country Turkey due to their association with the guineafowl trade in the Ottoman Empire.

Sheep were one of the first animals domesticated by Mesopotamians around 11,000 years ago, originating from the 'mouflon'.

Goats were domesticated from the wild bezoar ibex, with a similar origin to sheep in the regions of Turkey and the Caucasus.

Horses were domesticated around 6,000 years ago on the pontic steppe, stretching from Ukraine to Russia and Kazakhstan.

Donkeys were originally domesticated in Nubia, modern-day Sudan, from the African wild ass.

Camels, both dromedaries and bactrians, have distinct origins with dromedaries from Arabia and bactrians from Bactria, modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Llamas and alpacas, despite their similarities, are different animals with llamas being larger and having a wider range in the Andes.

Yaks, adapted for cold and mountainous regions, are the 'cows of the Himalaya' and grunt instead of mooing.

Silkworms were domesticated in China around 5,000 years ago, with the secret closely guarded and later stolen by Europeans.

Honey bees were among the first domesticated animals, with evidence of beekeeping in Egypt dating back 9,000 years.

Transcripts

About 2,000,000 years ago, early humans hadn't figured out farming yet.

So, they mainly relied on collecting fruits, tree bark, tree roots, and even insects to survive.

As did several other hominid species, including one called australopithecus.

But around this time, a change began to happen - not among the humans, but the climate.

An Ice Age was beginning, and for many humans, long portions of the year were marked by cold temperatures and food shortages.

To overcome this obstacle, the solution australopithecus came up with

was to eat a higher quantity of lower quality plants, like weeds and grasses.

While homo sapiens - that's us - found that in times of scarcity, animal meat and bone marrow could supplement fruits.

And actually provided greater amounts of protein, and access to different important nutrients, that only a few plants could provide.

If you look around today, only one of us is still around, as australopithecus died out around 2,000,000 years ago.

And it's thought, that their different feeding habits influenced their eventual demise.

In this way, eating meat helped save humans from extinction.

Ever since then, humans have been hunting and eating animals to satisfy parts of their diet.

And eventually figured out, that if we captured some of their young, and raised them alongside us,

we didn't have to put ourselves in danger, and could have our reliable source of food.

This process of training and breeding animals to coexist with humans, is called domestication.

And any animal we raise for the purpose of eating, or deriving some other value out of,

like for their eggs, milk or leather, is called livestock.

And although today, many of these are found all over the world, each one had to have come from somewhere specific.

And each one has an interesting story behind their domestication.

So, let's get the big one out of the way first: chickens.

The term "chicken" actually used to mean just the young ones, while the term "fowl" was used for the whole species.

That's why we still call all young birds chicks, even if they aren't chickens.

Honestly, I could do a whole video about chickens, so I hope you're ready for this.

Modern-day chickens are the domesticated form of what's called the "red junglefowl",

a bird, that struts along the floor of tropical forests, scratching seeds and other foods out of the soil.

In the wild, the red junglefowl originated over an area, stretching from India into China,

and down into southeast Asia, making it all the way to Sumatra.

And to this day, there are still wild populations of junglefowl throughout this area.

Although out of the red junglefowl's initial range, the earliest definitive evidence of chicken domestication

comes out of Hebei province in China, and would have occurred around 7,400 years ago.

From China, the domesticated chicken quickly spread east [*west],

with evidence of domesticated chickens in India from around 7,000 years ago.

By around 5,000 years ago they made it to Anatolia, and into eastern Europe not long after.

Evidence of chickens in the Middle East only go back to 4,000 years,

and they only reached Egypt around 3,400 years ago (or by about 1400 BCE).

The shocking part about all this, however, is that the chicken had not been domesticated for farming or even consumption yet.

Instead, this entire time, or for the first 5,000 years after chickens were first domesticated,

they were being used for the sole purpose of cock fighting, both as entertainment as well as gambling.

The first evidence we have, of people actually farming and eating chickens,

comes from only 2,300 years ago, in the ancient Israeli city of Maresha.

It was here, that a tremendous collection of over 1,000 chicken bones were found.

These bones were mostly from female chickens, so they couldn't have been used for cock fighting.

There were many fully matured bones, so they weren't selectively killed at birth.

And most importantly, the bones bare markings from knives, indicating that they were being cooked and cut up.

With 19 billions total chickens alive today on Earth, grown solely for their meat,

I think it's safe to say we use them more for eating than gambling now.

And our domestication of the chicken has made it the most populous bird on the planet,

with 2.5 chickens for every human on Earth.

Okay, I think I'm about done with chickens.

Cows, which also go by the name "cattle", are actually older than domesticated chickens.

And they can trace their wild heritage back to a beast knows as "auroch", which has since gone extinct.

But we still know what they look like, because they're one of the most common images to have been recorded as cave paintings.

Yeah, they look a lot like cows, that's kinda the point.

These were an incredibly versatile animal, they really only needed grass to survive.

Because of this, they basically originated anywhere with grass,

and their range spreads all the way from western Europe, through Asia, all the way to China.

DNA analysis, however, indicates that the domesticated cow we're familiar with today,

likely originated from just around 80 aurochs, near the villages of Çaöynü Tepesi in modern-day Turkey.

Maybe even by a single group of people, which is really crazy if you think about it.

Cows, that came out of this domestication event, are called taurine cows,

and sometimes mistakenly called European cows.

A second domestication event happened, however, which resulted in indicine cows.

Which, if you couldn't tell by the name, happened near the banks of the Indus river, in modern-day Pakistan.

These look notably different from most cows we're used to, featuring, among other things, a large hump on their back.

Instead of cows, these can also be called "zebu", and not everyone agrees, that they should be considered the same as cows.

But at least, genetically speaking, they're essentially the same animal.

Cows are also thought to be one of the oldest forms of currency.

And if we still used them, India would be the richest country on Earth,

hosting over 300 million of them, or roughly 30% of the world cow population.

And Brazil would be second with 232 million, or 23% of all the cows.

And yet, YouTube refuses to pay me in cows, and Patreon doesn't even let me make a choice to receive donations in cows.

"Pig" also used to be the word for a young pig, while the word "swine" was used for the whole species.

Which means, some day "piglet" could come to mean an adult pig,

and then we would need to find a new word, probably something like "piggle" for their babies.

The swine as a whole, however, are the domesticated version of the Eurasian boar.

Which as the name implies, also kinda has a ginormous range, throughout Europe and Asia.

But it's thought, more anciently, they originated out of southeast Asia, around 2,000,000 years ago.

However, they were domesticated in more or less the same exact place as cows,

within the Tigris river basin, likely south-central Turkey as well.

Since Turkey seems so be very popular so far, let's talk about turkeys next.

I was surprised to find, that turkeys actually did get their name from the country Turkey, but maybe not in the way you'd expect.

You see, wild turkeys had an original range across north America, nowhere near the country of Turkey.

Most likely, originating in the warm pine forest of Mexico.

But upon finding America, Europeans realized just how much they liked them, and brought them back to the Old World.

Quickly, turkeys made they way to the Ottoman Empire, which excelled in the trade of a very similar bird - the guineafowl.

The Turkish people came to breed and further domesticate the bird,

and began distributing it throughout the Mediterranean, and all the way back to Britain.

From there, the bird became associated with those who traded the bird,

and they became Turkish birds, birds from Turkey, and eventually just turkeys.

I guess the Turkish just really loved domesticating animals.

Moving on to sheep, like all of these, sheep had a more wild ancestor called the "mouflon".

From which, modern domesticated sheep were bred from.

These guys looked a thousand times cooler than moder sheep, and I definitely want to ride one.

The original range of mouflons was from the Caucasus, into... yeah, Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, and down into Iraq and Iran.

They were one of the first domesticated animals, when 11,000 years ago the Mesopotamians domesticated them.

Though it's unclear, where exactly in Mesopotamia this happened, who are we kidding? It was probably Turkey.

Goats are very similar to sheep, so it only makes sense,

that they come from roughly the same place, and were domesticated at roughly the same time.

Except domestic goats likely came from the wild bezoar ibex, which has some serious horns.

And actually have the largest horns relative to body size, of any animal on Earth.

These have a range from the Zagros mountains, into... yeah, Turkey, and the Caucasus as well.

The term to refer to a baby or a young goat, is just "kid", so this is just a bunch of kids.

This phrase comes from England, and is actually older than referring to human children as "kids",

which originated in America during the 1800s.

So yeah, basically calling a child a "kid", means you're calling them a baby goat.

Horses are probably the most awesome of the animals that we eat,

and also help in finally getting us out of Mesopotamia.

They likely roamed the pontic steppe, from Ukraine through Russia, and all the way into Kazachstan.

And it was here, that they were also likely domesticated, around 6,000 years ago.

The earliest irrefutable evidence of horse domestication comes from sites shared between Russia and Kazachstan,

where the horse carcasses were found, buried with chariots,

clearly indicated they were being used, and had been for some time.

A very close relative of the horse is the donkey, which yeah, are also called "ass".

And a female donkey, now called the "jenny", was just called the "she-ass".

I'm telling you all this not because it's important, but because I have to have funk making these videos too.

Despite being close relatives to the horse, they originated from the African wild ass,

which had a range from Egypt, all the way down to the Horn of Africa, as far as Somalia.

However, this region used to be a lot more grassy, and now their true range is centered around Ethiopia.

But this original range explains, why the donkey was originally domesticated in a place

called Nubia, by pastoral people in modern-day Sudan.

Camels are kind of difficult, because there's really two different camels:

The dromedary, what most of us consider as a regular camel, and then the bactrian camel.

Dromedaries, also known as Arabian camels, are just that,

originating in Arabia, and spilling over a bit into north and east Africa.

And it was either here in Arabia, or in Somalia, that they were first domesticated.

Whereas bactiran camels come from, well... Bactria.

Which is roughly this area, mostly in modern-say Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Because of their original habitat, it was these types of camels, the bactiran ones, that were used for the Silk Road.

Closely related to camels, are llamas and alpacas.

Because of their similarities to each other, they're often confused, but they are in fact different animals.

The important difference between them is size, as llamas can be up to 6 feet [1.8 meters] tall,

whereas alpacas are smaller, typically only over 4 feet [1.2 meters] tall.

The range of the llama is also bigger, stretching from Ecuador down to Chile, and even Argentina;

while alpacas can mostly be found within southern Peru and northern Chile.

But basically, both can be found within the Andes, and they're sort of just used as the cows of the Andes mountains.

If that's the case, then the cows of the Himalaya mountains would be yaks.

Which are basically cows, that grow their own skirts, as they've become adapted for cold and mountainous regions.

The most important difference between cows and yaks, however - in my opinion at least - is that while cows moo, yaks grunt.

And even their Latin name, "bos grunniens", reflects this, translating into "bull grunting".

The last two livestock creatures I want to talk about, aren't often thought about.

Typically, we don't directly eat these, but instead we just use the products they create.

The first one is the silkworm.

These are the larval stage of the silkmoth, which produce... yeah, you guessed it, silk.

The wild silkmoth has a range starting in northern India, and coming all the way up into northern China, and even into far-eastern Russia.

Domestication occurred in China, roughly 5,000 years ago.

And then the secret of their domestication was closely guarded, when outsiders came.

And Europeans had to steal silkworms, in order to figure it out.

It's a very interesting story, but we don't have time for it right now.

Lastly, we have the honey bee.

Now, some might argue this doesn't count as a domesticated livestock,

but they're still an animal, that we derive a tremendous amount of value from,

both through their honey and wax, but especially through their pollination practices.

So I figured I'd include them regardless.

Of the 20,000 different bee species, that exist on Earth, only 7 produce honey.

And it's thought, that the first honey bees came from Africa, and spread naturally across the rest of Eurasia.

And today, the most popular one is called the western honeybee, or sometimes, the European honeybee (hint hint).

And because Europeans had a lot of fun, sailing all around the world, and meeting a bunch of new people,

and definitely didn't do anything bad in any of these places - the modern range of the western honeybee looks like this.

Although they likely originated closer to this area, cave paintings in both Spain and France

have been found, depicting humans collecting honey from bee hives,

the first evidence of actual domestication comes from Egypt.

Where tombs have been found with images of beekeeping, from around 9,000 years ago.

Which is crazy, because beekeeping suits wouldn't be around for another 7,500 years.

They were only invented in the 1500s.

So yeah, for over 7,000 years people took care of bees, with nothing or close to nothing.

Which, I like honey and all, but overall doesn't seem worth it.

That's about it for livestock. Let me know, if you'd like to see another video,

maybe about our grains, vegetables, or possibly even peta.

As always, Thank You to my patrons for helping make this video and this channel possible.

If you wanna get your name up here, like these generous people, I got a link coming up for you.

Of course, you should subscribe if you like this, and if you haven't yet,

maybe you should check out my videos on where spices and fruits came from.

I'll be back soon with another one, thanks.