Farm animals

Domestic humpless cattle.
Domestic humpless cattle (Bos taurus ) appear in the archaeological record 6,000 years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Their ancestor was the wild ox (Bos primigenius ), a browsing and grazing ruminant in forests and scrub, now extinct. They provided a multitude of uses, including labor, milk, meat, bone, and tallow (for burning). Domestic humped cattle (Bos indicus ) were domesticated independently in Southeast Asia. The domestic yak, water buffalo, and mithan were each domesticated independently from a different bovine species.
Pigs.
Pigs were domesticated from the wild boar (Sus scrofa ) around the same time as cattle. They resemble dogs and humans more than other livestock in several ways. Pigs enjoy body contact with other family members and build nests and beds. They are physically weak at birth, requiring significant parental investment. These similarities may underlie the variation in cultural attitudes toward pigs as agricultural products. Whereas Muslims, Hindus, and some Christians traditionally considered pigs taboo as a source of protein, the Chinese bred both pigs and dogs specifically for their meat.
Horses
Horses were domesticated in the third millennium B. C. E. in Russia and western Asia from the wild horse (Equus ferus ). In early 2001, scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, and three Swedish universities published research indicating that the domestic horse was so genetically diverse, it could not have originated at one place. Mitochondrial DNA, which is genetically transmitted from mother to children, indicated several different matrilineal (female-based) lines. Based on this finding, the researchers suggested that wild horses were tamed independently in several different parts of the world. The "idea" of domesticating horses may have originated in one place, probably central Asia, but various cultures captured and tamed their own horses.
Horses are grass grazers, making them especially well suited to dry plains. At first they were used for food, then as vehicles for travel. Their ability to carry people had an enormous impact on human economies by speeding travel and transport and was probably a necessary step in the development of civilization.
Cats
Domestic cats are an exception to the rule of domestication. Feral cats (Felis silvestris ) helped rid rats and mice from stored grains once agriculture became widespread. Because cats are territorial, nocturnal carnivores, controlled breeding was exceptionally difficult. Consequently, there are relatively few cat breeds even after thousands of years of domestication, and those that exist are not much different from their wild ancestor or each other. The weakness of the effects of domestication on cats has made it difficult to determine when or where they were domesticated, but archaeological evidence indicates that ancient Egyptians kept cats as pets by 1000 B. C. E.
see also Animal Rights; Bioethics; Farming; Hunter-Gatherers.