Floppy Foxes

A friend told me about a Russian geneticist who was trying to breed foxes that were less fierce (so they would be easier to raise for fur coats, basically).

What he found was that in as little as 10 generations of selecting for the friendliest foxes, he not only had bred friendly animals, but also ones whose appearances had changed radically: floppy ears, coats with colors like a border collie, and more divergences from the originally homogenous stock.

Check out this three-minute snip from the PBS NOVA episode my friend had seen, which was about how dogs were bred to diverge from wolves in size, shape and color. Beware: There are many cute foxes in this video!