Litter (animal) and space, leaving the weakest young, or runts, to die through lack of care. In the wild, only a small percentage, if any, of the litter may survive to maturity, whereas for domesticated animals and those in captivity with human care the whole litter almost always survives. Kittens and puppies are in this group. Carnivores, rodents, and pigs usually have litters, while primates and larger herbivores usually have singletons. Litter (animal) A litter is the live birth of multiple offspring at one time in animals from the same mother and usually from one set of parents, particularly from three to
Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture crop and livestock species in the early neolithic time period changed our human evolution and lifestyles. This ability to control food production led to major demographic, technological, political and military changes. Consecutively, thousands of years of natural and human selection, genetic drift, inbreeding, and crossbreeding have contributed to the diversification of animal genetic resources and increased the variety of environments and production systems that livestock keeping takes place. Relatively few species have been domesticated; out of the world's 148 non-carnivorous species weighing more than 45 kg, only 15 have been successfully domesticated. The proportion of domesticated birds used for food