Stirring up a rabbit controversy

In 600 AD…

…Pope Gregory the Great … decreed that laurices — newborn or fetal rabbits — didn’t count as meat. Christians could therefore eat them during Lent. They became a popular delicacy, and hungry monks started breeding them. Their work transformed the wild, skittish European rabbit into a tame domestic animal that tolerates humans.

Or maybe not, says Ed Yong.

In fact, “…when it comes to domestication, …when is the wrong question.” Shoot. ((For completeness, here’s a similar table for plants.))

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