Resource: Desirable Breeding Traits in Cattle
Media Type:
QuickTime Video
Length: 2m 56s
Size: 8.4 MB
Cows have adapted to an incredible range of environments as they have provided people with milk, meat, leather, and draft power. As a response to the many uses and habitats of cattle, a wide variety of breeds have been developed. Breeders of beef and dairy cattle carefully select cows from known breeds that will yield the most meat and milk. In this video from Nature, learn about the most desirable traits in both beef and dairy cows.
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Transcript (Rich Text Format Document)
Loading reviews...Teachers' Domain, Desirable Breeding Traits in Cattle, published November 11, 2008, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/nat08.living.gen.geneng.traits/
- Background Essay
- Questions for Discussion
- Standards
Print Background EssayCattle originally evolved over millions of years through a process of natural selection-also known as “survival of the fittest”-which made them adaptable to a wide variety of environments, including most of those inhabited by another highly adaptable species: humans. Once humans discovered how to domesticate cattle about 4,000 years ago, they began to selectively, or “artificially,” breed them for specific desired traits like meat and milk production. This resulted in animals fit less for survival in the wild than the satisfaction of human needs, but in purely genetic terms, the arrangement has proven highly successful for cattle. Cattle now thrive throughout the world in over 800 different breeds, each more or less successfully adapted to their environment and the needs of their human caretakers.
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K-12 Subject:
Genetic Engineering
Genetic Inheritance
Lesson Plans Using this Resource:
Source: Nature: "Holy Cow"
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Major corporate support for the Nature collection was provided by Canon U.S.A. and SC Johnson. Additional support was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nation’s public television stations.