Domestication of the dog and cat

Lecture Notes

One key feature of domestication in the dog and other animals is pedomorphosis, the retention of juvenile body morphology and features into maturity. This is sometimes also referred to as neoteny.

So if we look at the modern-day dog, for example, compared to its wolf-like progenitor species we can observe that many of today's dogs are more like a wolf pup than an adult wolf in their behaviors. They're curious, exploratory, playful, and more likely to exhibit subordinate behaviors such as licking and whining.

Physical changes in many of today's breeds also include a smaller body size and a prominent forehead, again, more closely resembling a wolf pup than an adult wolf.