7/22/25

The Timeline of Domestication: A List of 38 Animals

The domestication of animals by humans is a long and fascinating process that has shaped our world. Here's a look at 38 animals that have been domesticated by humans, ordered chronologically.

Around the rise of agricultural civilization, our ancestors started domesticating wild animals to acquire more resources from them. In the early days of agricultural societies, six types of domestic animals namely "horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens" had already been domesticated. Furthermore, some large animals that were only found in local regions such as the Arabian dromedary, Central Asian Bactrian camel, and American alpaca were also domesticated.

The Domestication Timeline of 38 Animals

Species                             Year                                    Area

Dog                             15,000 BC                          East Asia, Africa

Sheep                         9000-11000 BC                   Southwest Asia

Goat                          10,000 BC                          Iran

Pig                            9000 BC                          Near East, China

Cattle                          8000 BC                          India, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa

Zebu                           8000 BC                          India

Cat                            7500 BC                          Cyprus, Near East

Chicken                       6000 BC                          India, Southeast Asia

Guinea pig                    5000 BC                          Peru

Donkey                        5000 BC                          Egypt

Domestic duck            4000 BC                          China

Water Buffalo               4000 BC                          India, China

Horse                          4000 BC                          Eurasian Steppe

Dromedary camel       4000 BC                          Arabia

Honey bee                  4000 BC                          Multiple regions

Llama                          3500 BC                          Peru

Silkworm                    3000 BC                          China

Reindeer                    3000 BC                          Russia

Rock dove                3000 BC                          Mediterranean Basin

Goose                          3000 BC                          Egypt

Bactrian camel           2500 BC                          Central Asia

Yak                            2500 BC                          Tibet, China

Asian elephant          2000 BC                          Indus Valley

Banteng                     Unknown                        Southeast Asia, Java

Gaur                           Unknown                        Southeast Asia

European rabbit        1600 BC                          Europe

Alpaca                        1500 BC                          Peru

Ferret                         1500 BC                          Europe

Fallow deer               1000 BC                          Mediterranean Basin

Muscovy duck            Unknown                        South America

Guineafowl                 Unknown                        Africa

Common carp               Unknown                        East Asia

Domestic turkey         500 BC                          Mexico

Blue peafowl              500 BC                          India

Barbary dove             500 BC                          North Africa

Goldfish                     Unknown                        China

Mute swan               1000-1500 AD                Europe

Canary                        1600 AD                          Canary Islands, Europe

Japanese quail        1100-1900 AD                 JapanIf you enjoyed this, try:Pet Naming

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