People usually have stereotypes about different breeds of dogs: Rottweilers and pit bulls are aggressive, while Labradors and golden retrievers are extra friendly.
However, a genetic study published recently in the journal Science involving more than 2,000 dogs and paired with 200,000 survey answers from owners demonstrates that the widespread assumptions are mostly unfounded.
Undeniably, many behavioral traits can be inherited, but the modern concept of breed offers only partial predictive value for most types of behavior, and has nothing to do with how affectionate or quick-tempered a dog can be.
Photo: Pixabay 照片: Pixabay
“While genetics plays a role in the personality of any individual dog, a specific dog breed is not a good predictor of those traits,” said Elinor Karlsson, director of the Vertebrate Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
The team sequenced the DNA of 2,155 purebred and mixed-breed dogs to search for common genetic variations that could predict behavior, and combined this information with surveys from 18,385 pet-owner surveys from Darwin’s Ark, an open-source database of owner-reported canine traits and behaviors.
Overall, breed explained just 9 percent of variation in behavior, with age a better predictor of some traits.
(Translated by Rita Wang, Taipei Times)
羅威那犬和比特犬屬於攻擊性犬種，拉布拉多和黃金獵犬則格外友善，這都是眾所周知的刻板印象。
然而，《科學》期刊近來發表了一項基因研究。這份涉及兩千多隻狗，搭配狗主人二十萬個答覆的調查，顯示大部分的廣泛假設都是沒有根據的。
不可否認地，許多行為特徵可以遺傳，但品種的現代概念僅對大多數類型行為提供部分預測價值，幾乎跟狗會多麼溫順或者暴躁易怒無關。
麻省理工學院和哈佛大學布洛德研究所脊椎動物基因組學主任卡森說：「儘管遺傳在任何一隻狗的個性中都發揮作用，但特定犬種無法有效預測那些特徵。」
研究團隊對兩千一百五十五隻純種狗和雜種狗的DNA進行測序，尋找可以預測行為的常見基因變異，並將這些資料與來自「達爾文方舟」一萬八千三百八十五名狗主人的調查數據結合研究。達爾文方舟是一個由主人回報犬類特徵和行為的開源資料庫。
整體來說，品種只能解釋犬類百分之九的行為差異，而年齡是部分行為特徵的較佳預測指標。
(中央社)
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