The evidence for the possibility of assimilation of one species into another, larger gene pool is right before our eyes today, at least as far as Canidae are concerned: two examples that come to mind are the Red Wolf and the Ethiopian Wolf.

The Red Wolf was rapidly becoming assimilated into the coyote gene pool; debate continues as to how many (some would ask whether any) pure Red Wolves exist. Capture and captive breeding of a small group of animals believed to be purebred may save that species; it is simply too soon to tell. Red Wolves also figure (at least anecdotally) in the development of some domestic dog breeds: notably the Catahoula Leopard Dog and some of the other curs. Dingos, which I consider to be a distinct species closelty related to dogs and wolves, also hybridize readily with domestic dogs and are in danger of losing their identity in some areas.

The Ethiopian Wolf population crisis may be more relevant to this discussion: this wolf, which is in many ways very doglike, is hybridizing with domestic dogs, at least at the fringes of its range. Given the tiny remnant population of the wolves that exists, and the pressure on that population from canine diseases such as rabies and distemper, destruction of habitat and hybridization could conceivably eliminate the Ethiopian Wolf as a distinct species within a few decades.

Possibly human intervention will come in time to prevent this. But in earlier times, when most people did not have the enlightened view of predators that is prevalent today, situations similar to these may have occured without being recognized until it was too late for the remnant species.

Who knows how many such small, fragmented, remnant species have been overwhelmed by and assimilated into larger gene pools over the millenia?

People have probably kept pets for as long as we have been people. I believe that our universal propensity to take and keep pets is one of the traits that marks our species as human.
Even tribal people who do not keep domestic stock usually have pets taken from the local fauna: monkeys, parrots, civets, mongooses, the occasional jackal or fox puppy, etc.; the list is as almost varied as the fauna itself. Modern humans in a natural state are almost invariably nomadic to some extent. In all species the instinct to reproduce is very strong. Since the vast majority of pets in history and in prehistory have NOT been rendered incapable of reproducing, it surely was inevitable that nomadic people’s pets’ sometimes mated with related but different species within the local fauna. It will probably never be known just how much influence those random matings had in the evolution of our domestic animals.

But I will leave that for another discussion sometime.

I LOVE cryptomundo! I wish I’d found this long ago. The Maine mutant story drew me in. I sure do enjoy and appreciate these lively topics and discussions.

Still can’t see it in the pic mind!

Funny picture. It looks like it came to stay and is participating in a conference about how to get rid of it.

Though interesting, the “cow” in the 2nd photo is not nearly as interesting as the truly extraordinary creature in the top photograph.

When was the top photo taken, and where specifically?

No doubt the numbers of this species are probably quite small.

For instance, I do not believe that the gray wolf as we know it today is the only progenitor of the domestic dog. There are just too many forms and patterns and colorations within the species DOG, that simply do not exist in the species GRAY WOLF.

Same thing with cattle. I do not believe that Bos aurochs and Bos indicus are the only ancestors of Bos taurus. The primary ancestors, yes. The only ancestors, no.

I believe that kouprey are a distinct species which is closely related to the species (I read that as “species”, plural) from which zebu were derived. It is very likely that more than one subspecies or even more than one distinct species of kouprey (and other wild cattle) exist or have existed within recent times.

Whether they will continue to exist, given the widespread deforestaion and fragmentation of the fragile ecosystems in which they evolved, is problematic. The world is - tragically - running out of room for large wild animals as the human population explodes out of control.