Getting Back to Nature: Feralization in Animals and Plants

Overview

Journal Trends Ecol Evol

Specialties Biology
Environmental Health

Date 2019 Sep 7

PMID 31488326

Citations 33

Authors

Eben Gering

Darren Incorvaia

Rie Henriksen

Jeffrey Conner

Thomas Getty

Dominic Wright

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Formerly domesticated organisms and artificially selected genes often escape controlled cultivation, but their subsequent evolution is not well studied. In this review, we examine plant and animal feralization through an evolutionary lens, including how natural selection, artificial selection, and gene flow shape feral genomes, traits, and fitness. Available evidence shows that feralization is not a mere reversal of domestication. Instead, it is shaped by the varied and complex histories of feral populations, and by novel selection pressures. To stimulate further insight we outline several future directions. These include testing how 'domestication genes' act in wild settings, studying the brains and behaviors of feral animals, and comparative analyses of feral populations and taxa. This work offers feasible and exciting research opportunities with both theoretical and practical applications.

Citing Articles

Functional Insights Into the Effect of Feralisation on the Gut Microbiota of Cats Worldwide.

Aizpurua O, Botnen A, Eisenhofer R, Odriozola I, Santos-Bay L, Bjornsen M Mol Ecol. 2025; 34(6):e17695.

PMID: 39953749 PMC: 11874672. DOI: 10.1111/mec.17695.

How domestication, feralization and experience-dependent plasticity affect brain size variation in .

Cucchi T, Neaux D, Feral L, Goussard F, Adriensen H, Elleboudt F R Soc Open Sci. 2024; 11(9):240951.

PMID: 39295922 PMC: 11407859. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240951.

Phenotypic diversity in early Australian dingoes revealed by traditional and 3D geometric morphometric analysis.

Koungoulos L, Hulme-Beaman A, Fillios M Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):21228.

PMID: 39294146 PMC: 11411105. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65729-3.

Rewilded horses in European nature conservation - a genetics, ethics, and welfare perspective.

Lovasz L, Sommer-Trembo C, Barth J, Scasta J, Grancharova-Hill R, Lemoine R Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2024; 100(1):407-427.

PMID: 39279124 PMC: 11718625. DOI: 10.1111/brv.13146.

The Domestication of Wild Boar Could Result in a Relaxed Selection for Maintaining Olfactory Capacity.

Buglione M, Rivieccio E, Aceto S, Paturzo V, Biondi C, Fulgione D Life (Basel). 2024; 14(8).

PMID: 39202786 PMC: 11355481. DOI: 10.3390/life14081045.

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