GGS - Chapter 9

Next is animal domestication. Many locations ended up domesticating small animals, but the large mammals capable of doing work in the farm and used for war (14 total, including the "major 9" of cows, sheep, goats, horse and pig) were primarily domesticated in Eurasia. One reason is that the area was the largest and most diverse, producing the largest number of candidates (admittedly, America and Australia had fewer candidates because humans arrived late, leading to extinction). But why did Africa fail to domestic any, even though some were close relatives of the Eurasian candidates?

It can't be because of cultural difference, because domesticated animals were readily adopted when made available through neighboring societies (another parallel to memes: the domestication meme increased human reproduction and out-produced competing memes). Domestication overs clear advantages in food, food production and warfare. Additionally, the same ancestors were independently domesticated in seperate locations and almost immediately after food production, which no significant additions after 2500 BC. This points to the idea that all possible species had been domesticated immediately, and that the reason why there was no domestication in Africa is because of the species present there.

It comes down to six main points the Anna Karenina principle. The right animals had to have an efficient diet (no carnivores), fast growth rate, no problems in captivity (no shy breeders), not have a nasty disposition (infamous in zebras, only horses in eurasia were mild), a tendency to group together instead of instant flight during panic (helps cohesion in domestic populations) and finally have the correct social structure (includes linear dominance with imprintable leader and not be territorial). Because Eurasia was ecologically diverse, it gave rise to the largest number of big mammal candidates and only in this place did animals meet all these requirements.