Question

Here is a hypothetical evolutionary tree showing domestic and wild pigeon populations. If this were the real tree (it's not), how many times would you infer that pigeons have been domesticated within the populations measured here?

Answer 1

One can infer based on the hypothetical evolutionary tree that pigeons have been domesticated within the populations measured here about 4 times.

In the first generation, you have the following breeding:

1. Wild Pigeon 31 + Domestic Pigeon 24
2. Domestic Pigeon 15 + Wild Pigeon 12
3. Then you have Wild Pigeon 10

The first two pass a domestication becuae their offpring will no longer have 100% pure genes or behavioral traits.

In 3 above, there was no cross, so wild pigeon 10 was not domesticated.

In the next stage, you see that the offspring of 15 and 15 are bred with Wild Pigeon 10 making it the third time wild pigeons are domesticated. Lets call the offspring here 1510x

In the last branch, we have the offspring of Wild Pigeon 31 + Domestic Pigeon 24 being bred with the offspring of 1510x. This makes it the fourth time that the pigeons are being domesticated.