Breed

A pet breed is a population of a pet that can be distinguished in features such as body type, the properties as farm animals and the behavior of other populations and inherited these traits. According to the degree of breeding processing cultivars, landraces and transitional races are distinguished. Breeds of domestic animals correspond to the varieties of cultivated plants. Livestock breeds are subunits of domestic animal breeds.

Development of the concept of race in the context of domestic animals

Pets show a great intraspecific variability. Long the intraspecific differences in domestic animals were treated as differences between species. Within the respective domestic species taxonomic units were formed. During Linnaeus originated in the 18th century by the immutability of species and this looked as created by God, was later tried to explain the large variability of domestic animals by lineages. Racial formation was understood as a process, which is comparable to the formation of species and subspecies of wild animals.

In many current racial definitions referring to Wolf Herre, the formulated 1961: "races are subunits of pets a species that differ from each other more in a number of hereditary characteristics. They are accrued on a subjective basis. " And underlined that the term should only be used for subdivisions of pets. Some authors point to the relationship between races and targeted selection by man and certain breeding goals. Part is pointed out that a natural breed formation does not take place. Other authors, however, use the term also for natural feature differentiation.

Classification of races on the degree of breeding processing

Landraces

Landraces, primitive breeds, natural breeds or geographical races are caused mainly by natural selection breeds of domestic animals. From an environmental and climate factors they created in a certain, usually remote or little favorable habitat. They are better adapted to the conditions in the area, so frugal and resistant, but less powerful than cultivars. Usually they also have a greater genetic diversity than this. Some of them form the starting population for culture breeds.

Transition breeds

Crossing breeds or " refined landraces " are emerged from landraces, slightly more influenced breeding domestic animal breeds. You have to preserve some of the advantages of the land races, however, are more productive than this.

Cultivars

Culture breeds or breeds are created by breeding domestic animal breeds that have been bred due to economic needs or hobbies and be optimized by artificial selection constantly on their use in relation to. In livestock breeding economic performance, such as earnings, the primary breeding goal, high-performance culture breeds form the basis of highly developed agricultural production. In contrast, the lover breed characteristics are as physique or Coat color and pattern in the foreground. Frequently cultivars are divided into strokes and lines. Cultivars are usually more demanding than landraces.