"Unraveling the Remarkable Brain Regeneration of American Mink: A Fascinating Reversal of Domestication"
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Phys.org
A study by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior has found that the American mink, a species that has undergone domestication for the fur trade, is able to regrow almost the full ancestral brain size within 50 generations after escaping captivity. This rare reversal of the domestication effect challenges the notion that loss of brain size in domesticated animals is permanent. The study suggests that the mink's ability to seasonally change their brain size may contribute to this flexibility, allowing them to adapt to the challenges of living in the wild.