Page 14 - All About History - Issue 26-15

Animals & Man

Animals & man across history

Dogs used their keen sense
MAN’S BEST FRIEND of smell to help early hunter- Testing times
ANCIENT GREECE 4TH/3RD CENTURY BCE
gatherer humans
WORLDWIDE 12,000 BCE The very first references to animals
Although the direct ancestor of the being used for experiments are
dog has not been determined, it is found in the writings of Aristotle
likely that the household dogs we and Erasistratus around 300 BCE.
know today have ancestors similar Animals were used by ancient
to wolves. Dog-like skulls dating scientists to study theories such
over 30,000 years old have been as blood circulation and biological
found in ancient caves from Asia to makeup at a time when dissecting
Europe, leading some to believe that humans was forbidden. Animals
even then, selective breeding of dogs continued to be used in many
had already begun. It is believed that famous scientific breakthroughs such
particular breeds of wolves, the less as Robert Boyle’s belief that humans
anxious and aggressive, entered a needed air to live in the 1600s,
symbiotic relationship with humans, and Louis Pasteur’s experiments
eventually leading to primate dogs. concerning germs in 1880. It was
Dogs have been depicted as pets around this point that opposition
in ancient Egyptian paintings and to animal testing began to gain
Many animals including birds, mice
Ancient Roman women even kept popularity and to this day the subject
and snails were experimented on
lapdogs to ease stomachaches. remains highly controversial. in Robert Boyle’s air pump

Animals & man timeline O Damnatio ad An elephantine O A nose for crime
Although dogs had
task
bestias
Capital punishment More than 1,000 been used in policing
O Thehuntison O The world where the elephants are since the Middle Ages,
Ancient humans first goes green condemned, such as used to transport dogs are first used
use tools to catch, Vegetarianism begins Christians and slaves, building materials to help police in the
butcher and eat to emerge as a lifestyle are thrown to wild for the construction apprehension of a
animals, leading to in ancient India, North animals is introduced of the Taj Mahal. criminal in the Jack the
an increase in brain Africa and Greece, in ancient Rome.Itis 1632-1653 Ripper case.
and body size. mainly for religious and also used as a form of 1869
2 million years ago ethical reasons. entertainment.
600 BCE One converted Christian was 200 BCE Elephants transported materials
tied to a wild bull and dragged from all over Asia for the Taj Mahal
around the arena
2MY BCE 1000 BCE 1300 1500 1600 1800 1900
O Early farming O An unforgettable O Rats begin to O Rise of animal O Averymodernzoo
Humans domesticate journey spread the plague entertainment London Zoological
sheep and goats to Military commander The fleas living Bear baiting becomes Gardens opens to the
be used for farming; it Hannibal marches on rats carried on a popular pastime in public, after being
would be 1,000 more an army that merchant ships cause England. Henry VIII previously only used
years before pigs are includes war the spread of the has a pit constructed for scientific study.
domesticated and elephants over the Black Death, claiming and Elizabeth I is also However, all the
another 1,000 until Pyrenees and Alps. an estimated 75-200 a fan of the sport. animals are kept inside London Zoological Gardens
cattle is farmed. 218 BCE million lives. Bear baiting was not banned in 1500s until 1902. was the first to use the
8,000 BCE 1346 the British Empire until 1835 1857 abbreviation ‘zoo’

A purrfect beginning The dodo goes nono
ASIA 9500 BCE MAURITIUS 1662
The notion that cats do things on their The dodo was first sighted by Dutch
own terms also extends to the beginning sailors in 1598 when they were described
of their relationship with us – it is believed as “foules twice as bigge as swans.” Living
that cats domesticated themselves and on the island of Mauritius, the isolated
formed a mutually beneficial relationship bird had no predators and no reason
with humans. A burial site from 9500 BCE to fear humans. This made them easy
shows evidence of cats and humans living prey for hungry sailors, and thanks to
side by side, but it was in ancient Egypt the introduction of animals like cats and
where they came into prominence. When pigs, in less than 100 years the Dodo was
Egypt became a province of Rome, cats extinct. The extinction brought attention
spread throughout the empire, but it wasn’t to human involvement in elimination of
until the end of the 19th century that they species, contributing to future efforts to
As part of the cult of the goddess Bastet, became prized as companions. For a while the Dodo was believed preserve endangered animals.
to be a mythical creature
cats were worshipped and mummified
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