I ruminanti : Domesticazione, evoluzione e coevoluzione con le popolazioni umane

The domestication of ruminants has led to significant changes in the morphology, physiology, and behavior of these animals, while simultaneously influencing human cultural and genetic evolution in a process of coevolution. Approximately 10,000 years ago, the domestication of cattle, sheep, and goats marked a turning point in history, profoundly transforming the social, economic, and cultural structures of human communities. By providing meat, milk, hides, and, in the case of cattle, labor, ruminants became essential for human sustenance. Their role in rituals and symbolic or mythological representations attests their centrality in past and present cultures. The "secondary products revolution," which introduced the use of milk, wool, and animal labor, was a pivotal development, redefining the human-animal relationship in a way that preserved animal life. The ability to digest lactose gradually became more common among populations closely interacting with ruminants, demonstrating both cultural and genetic evolution. The intensification of human-animal interactions also facilitated the spread of zoonotic diseases, leading to an "epidemiological transition" and the development of immune adaptations. In recent decades, manual milking has been progressively replaced by mechanical and, more recently, automated milking systems, with implications for animal behavior, physiology, and morphology, as well as for human-animal relationships. The domestication of ruminants stands among the most significant events in human history, contributing to the development of modern societies and shaping the biological and cultural evolution of both human and animal populations.

Dalla comparsa dei primi ruminanti domestici fino alle moderne tecnologie di allevamento e di produzione e trasformazione del latte, il rapporto tra esseri umani e ruminanti ha influenzato profondamente non solo l’evoluzione genetica e fenotipica delle specie allevate, ma anche le strutture sociali, economiche e culturali delle popolazioni umane. Questo volume raccoglie gli atti del seminario dedicato ad analizzare le diverse dimensioni di questa relazione millenaria, approfondendo aspetti legati alla biodiversità genetica, all’evoluzione dei sistemi produttivi e alle implicazioni delle innovazioni tecnologiche e nutrizionali. Un approccio interdisciplinare che offre spunti di riflessione su come la coevoluzione tra uomo e ruminanti continui a modellare il presente e il futuro.