The Christian Science Monitor

Cuddly foxes show the ‘softer side’ of evolution

When Lee Dugatkin went to Siberia in 2012 to learn more about an experiment that is illuminating one of the oldest problems in evolution, there was a moment he describes as “nirvana.”

“This animal, which had never seen me before, within five seconds was licking my nose and ears,” says the University of Louisville biologist and science historian. “He was calmer and more friendly than the calmest lap dog you can imagine.”

This friendly animal was not a dog, but a fox, , a species not typically known for leaping into the arms of unfamiliar primates. But this particular fox, a reddish male adult with a slender build and puplike

Playing the foxFrom wild to mildA unified hypothesis?Domesticating the domesticators

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor5 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Beyond TikTok Ban: How One State Is Grappling With Teens And Scrolling
Will American teens lose their access to TikTok? Should they? A new law that could ban the video app – a platform especially popular with youth – unless it is sold by Chinese owner ByteDance, moves the former question closer to an answer. But the lat
The Christian Science Monitor5 min read
In Kentucky, The Oldest Black Independent Library Is Still Making History
Thirty minutes into the library tour, Louisa Sarpee wants to work there. History is so close to her. One block away from her high school, the small library she had never set foot in laid the foundation of African American librarianship. What is more,
The Christian Science Monitor4 min read
Are World’s 200 Million Pastoral Herders A Climate Threat?
In early 2020, just before the world locked down, I was in Ethiopia as a journalist, documenting the challenges faced by a tribe of nomadic pastoralists that has made its home in the Danakil Desert for over 1,000 years. About 1.5 million Afar tribesp

Related Books & Audiobooks