"Unfortunately, Savanna herbivores are often aggressive and ill-tempered, making domestication impossible. Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats and other domesticated mammals all originated in Temperate latitudes."
I wonder if it is a coincidence or if there were reasons for the evolution of these species.
Thanks for the comment. That is a very interesting question.
I can only speculate but the African savanna is a pretty rough neighborhood for predators, and there are many other types of herbivores to compete against for food.
Watching Cape Buffalo, which superficially resemble Asian water buffalo, rumble with a pride of lions makes me believe that they were impossible to domesticate. Eurasian herbivores are far more placid. Hippos are also extremely aggressive. Bull elephants and rhinos can also be aggressive.
Of course, impalas, gazelles and other antelope are relatively peaceful, so it is not always true. Bull moose, bison and musk ox are also fairly aggressive, so it is not exclusive to Africa.
Thank you...I am reading the series with huge hunger to learn more about it. The area of the Indian ocean is from the red sea up to west China. it is an area where all communities are bound as an integral belt.
This is an absolutely phenomenal summary of something most of the other writers on progress just take for granted. Thank you!
Thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback. I plan to release more posts on the subject in the coming weeks.
Stays tuned.
"Unfortunately, Savanna herbivores are often aggressive and ill-tempered, making domestication impossible. Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats and other domesticated mammals all originated in Temperate latitudes."
I wonder if it is a coincidence or if there were reasons for the evolution of these species.
Thanks for the comment. That is a very interesting question.
I can only speculate but the African savanna is a pretty rough neighborhood for predators, and there are many other types of herbivores to compete against for food.
Watching Cape Buffalo, which superficially resemble Asian water buffalo, rumble with a pride of lions makes me believe that they were impossible to domesticate. Eurasian herbivores are far more placid. Hippos are also extremely aggressive. Bull elephants and rhinos can also be aggressive.
Of course, impalas, gazelles and other antelope are relatively peaceful, so it is not always true. Bull moose, bison and musk ox are also fairly aggressive, so it is not exclusive to Africa.
Great piece. How about the Indian ocean and the complexity of the entire region ?
Thanks for the comment.
By “Indian ocean,” do you mean South Asia?
I have an entire series of articles where I go into more detail on various regions of historical significance. I will eventually get to South Asia…
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/t/geography-by-region
Thank you...I am reading the series with huge hunger to learn more about it. The area of the Indian ocean is from the red sea up to west China. it is an area where all communities are bound as an integral belt.
Great.
This series also includes articles about the impact of geography on human history. A few are duplicate of the other series, but most are not.
Enjoy!
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/t/geography