Historically, in order to protect the royal bloodline, China's Qing Dynasty and the British royal family have both advocated the marriage of close relativesThe consequence was the birth of many flawed noble offspring.
Now everyone understands the dangers of inbreeding, and the law prohibits marriage between close relatives, but animals do not have the usual ethics of human beings, and it is very common to kill relatives and eat them directlyDuring estrus, mating is even more unrecognized
So, what do wild males do when they meet their mothers? Is it true that horses don't cheat their mothers?
Backcrossing behavior is prevalent in the animal and plant kingdoms, and for human societyInbreeding is an unethical tabooHowever, the instinct for the continuation of life drives plants and animals to inbreed when conditions are limited.
By analyzing the cases of plant breeding and animal breeding, it can be seen that the use of backcrossing in plant breedingBreeding new varieties with excellent characteristics.
For example, sweet potato A has high yield and high taste but is not insect resistant, and sweet potato B is insect resistant but has poor other characteristics, and has been backcrossed for many generationsNew varieties that offer the best of both worlds can be obtained.
This demonstrates the positive role of backcrossing in enriching genetic diversity, allowing the superior genes to be effectively preserved and inherited in future generations while excluding the influence of inferior genesScreening and curing of excellent characteristics have been realized.
In modern plant breeding techniques,The use of backcrossing to breed new varieties has become a common method.
However, in animal farming, backcrossing for commercial gain can lead to the accumulation of genetic defectsProduces congenital diseases.
For example, in order to breed Canadian ** cats, the offspring often have health problems when the mother and child cats are artificially backcrossed, which shows that commercially-driven inbreeding is unethicalThere are also biological drawbacks.
Inbreeding in animals predisposes to the activation of recessive pathogenic genesIncreases the risk of disease in future generationsIt also reduces the genetic diversity of the population, which in the long run can lead to the extinction of the species.
In their natural state, wildlife actively avoid inbreeding, and when habitat is restricted, such as the Xisha bison, they can only breed on small islandsInbreeding becomes a necessary option to maintain the population.
This highlights the instinct of organisms to actively adapt to the environment and continue their genes, and wildlife has evolved complex mate selection mechanismsAbility to identify inbreeding, thus avoiding inbreeding.
This is the conclusion of geneticists after a long period of observation, and this mechanism fails when habitats become smaller and populations decline, in order to maintain genetic continuityInbreeding has become a means of survival.
There is a paradoxical aspect of backcrossing behavior, which can both enrich genetic variation and lead to diseaseIt is not only against human ethics, but also a last resort choice of life.
Going back to the origins of life, we may be able to put aside our inherent prejudices and look at them from a more tolerant and understanding perspectiveThis is a universal phenomenon that exists in nature.
The continuation of life overrides all rules, and although inbreeding is ethically condemned by human society, its existence in the state of nature is necessary, which also enlightens us when facing the problem of backcrossingYou need to think from multiple perspectives.
In agriculture and animal husbandry, some farmers will promote inbreeding between animals for the sake of profit, but this behavior is extremely detrimental to animal health and violates animal welfareHumans should not do such things maliciously.
From biological studies, it can be seen that inbreeding increases the probability of exposure to recessive genes, and if both parents carry recessive pathogenic genes, offspring may exhibit this recessive geneCauses disease or deformity.
For example, inbreeding of healthy cattle may result in calves with only two legs because both parents carry recessive pathogenic genesInbreeding results in the dominance of recessive genes in the offspring.
The data shows that the incidence of inbred piglets is much higher than that of non-inbred piglets, which grows slowly and is susceptible to disease, which some farmers believe is a breed or virus problemThe dangers of inbreeding are rarely considered.
In fact, inbred piglets have poor resistance and take 8 months to reach 100 kg, compared to 5 months for normal pigsThis shows that inbreeding directly weakens the health and growth quality of piglets.
Wild animals have reproductive isolation mechanisms to avoid inbreeding, for example, hybridization failures are often due to asymmetry in the number of chromosomesAs a result, the meiotic number is blocked** and the sperm and egg cell motility is reduced.
Other isolation mechanisms include morphology, differences in fertility time, etcFailed hybrids are naturally discardedThis type of segregation mechanism ensures the diversity of genetic material of wild animals.
The introduction of heterogeneous genes that can change the ecotype may threaten the regional ecological environment, and if the hybrids are adaptable, they will replace the local genotype, which will threaten the original population and lead to the loss of the original genetic genesAnthropogenic hybridization can also endanger ecosystems if not properly handled.
In fact, each species in the biosphere has its unique genetic combination that encodes various characteristics of that species, and inbreeding reduces the diversity of genes in the long runThe adaptive capacity of the species will decline, more susceptible to disease.
Inbreeding is harmful to animal health, and humans should not drive animals to inbreeding for profit, which is contrary to animal welfare, and we should respect the rules of natureProtect biodiversity and maintain ecological balance.
The existence of every species has its significance,We need to cherish the miracle of life on this planet.
Horses are highly social species in the animal kingdom, and they form complex social hierarchies and structural relationships, and in the wild, each individual herd of horsesIt consists of a strong adult stallion leading several adult breeding hens, which also includes their descendants.
The stallion will defend its territory and the breeding hens it owns with all its mightPrevent other foreign stallions who want to grab their territory and mates from entering their own territory and challenging them.
The breeding mothers will do their best to take care of their offspring, and accompany the ponies until they are fully mature and independent, and when the ponies grow upThe young mare will stay in the herd where they were born, while the baby stallions are driven away by their original stallions or leave the herd on their own, wandering around in search of their new territory and mate.
Because there is such a set of spontaneously formed social structures and rules operating in the herdIt is very rare for horses to be inbred in the wild.
Each wild stallion has plenty of space to move aroundAble to keep a certain distance from other horses, so it is very rare for ** events to occur.
On the other hand, horses bred in captivity have lost this important inbreeding prevention mechanismArtificially choreographing mating between different horses often results in inbreeding.
So how accurately do horses identify their relativesSo as to avoid backcrossing?
The main method is to rely on a keen sense of smellMare will often lick and pet their poniesThe pony will also remember the peculiar smell of its mother.
When a baby stallion grows up and leaves the mare to look for a mate of the opposite sex, once it meets its mother again, it can easily determine the identity of the other person by the mother's unique scentThus refusing to mate.
In addition to horses, other animals have similarly reliable methods of identifying relatives and avoiding inbreeding, for example, a scientist once designed an experimentFrogs of different family origins are mixed togetherto observe their mating.
It was found that even when they were mixed together, the frogs avoided their siblings when choosing a mateWhereas, the choice is to mate with frog individuals who are not related by blood.
The cliff swallow is a bird that lives on high cliffs, and they are mainly identified by their callsDetermine whether the other party is your relative.
It can be seen that the animal kingdom is able to accurately determine whether the other person is a close relative by relying on sensitive senses such as smell and hearingThus consciously avoiding the genetic defects that may be brought about by inbreeding.
This behavioral strategy of avoiding ** is a survival wisdom that has been developed over the long period of evolution of animals, and it helps animals maintain healthy genetic diversity within the groupAvoid accumulating too many harmful recessive genes due to inbreeding, which is of great benefit to the continuation and reproduction of species.
Therefore, the mating selection behavior of horses reflects the animal kingdom's awareness of the dangers of inbreedingIt can be described as a concentrated embodiment of the wisdom of nature.
In fact, the behavior of "horses do not cheat their mothers" is not absolute, and there are occasional exceptions, such as when the mare's body odor changesor when a horse has an excess of male hormones, it may still be associated with **.
However, this is only a few cases, and the characteristic of "horses do not deceive their mothers" was later extended by the ancients as a symbol of the moral character of horsesIt appears in many literary works in ancient China.
For example, the "White Horse" from the "Book of Songs" compares the horse to a gentleman of noble character, and this metaphor has derived various legends about the horse not bullying his motherSuch as the allusion to the white horse wall in Huaxian County, Henan.
While these literary fables are powerful, modern scientific research clearly shows that the animal kingdom avoids inbreeding for genetic reasonsand not subject to any moral constraints or emotional factors.
Animals follow instincts and behavioral patterns to identify close relatives through certain innate mechanismsIn a variety of ways, inbreeding with relatives is avoided as much as possible.
This behavioural strategy has been developed over a long period of evolution and is beneficial for maintaining the genetic diversity of species, and the case of mating selection in horses reflects the animal kingdom's perception of the problem of inbreedingIt's a clever strategy in nature.
Relatively speaking, humans have largely lost this instinct to avoid, but we should still remember the importance of following the laws of science, noAble to challenge or violate the laws of biological nature excessively.
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