Shirley wrote: >I'd be interested to know how you think that domestication has changed >ferrets' susceptibility to things that their predecessors are not, >because I have never seen, nor read about, any evidence of this. I have >seen many diseases *caused* by how they are kept The very mutations which set the stage for domestication appear to be ones which affect the neural crest. Domestic animals are FAR more prone to neural crest variations than wild ones. In recent years it has been found that some genetic locations are more prone to mutations than others, also stages can be set for increased locus vulnerability, so the very act of domestication may make ferrets more prone to later spontaneous mutations at those genetics loci, meaning that new neural crest genetic variation mutations may enter the population periodically at a greater rate than one would otherwise expect. There are articles of interest on the "Star Gene" -- as opposed to "StAR Gene" which is a steroidal genetic adrenal variant -- though both are under study to see how wide their effects are and more so they may overlap. See: <http://www.floridalupine.org/publications/PDF/trut-fox-study.pdf> <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/health/25rats.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin> <http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG17988> <http://www.floridalupine.org/publications/PDF/trut-fox-study.pdf> <http://reactor-core.org/taming-foxes.html> <http://7e.devbio.com/article.php?id=223> Hopefully, all still work but if not even a few will give enough info. -- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my private posts) Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love them: Ferret Health List http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ AFIP Ferret Pathology http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html Miamiferrets http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ International Ferret Congress Critical References http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML 5416]
