Editing Mammal (section)

===Uses and importance===
{{See also|Livestock|Laboratory animal|Pack animal}}
[[File:Hand milking a cow at Cobbes Farm Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Cattle]] have been [[dairy farming|kept for milk]] for thousands of years.]]

The domestication of mammals was instrumental in the [[Neolithic Revolution|Neolithic development of agriculture]] and of [[civilisation]], causing farmers to replace [[hunter-gatherer]]s around the world.{{efn|Diamond discussed this matter further in his 1997 book ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]''.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Diamond JM |author-link=Jared Diamond |year=1997 |title=Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies|chapter=Part 2: The rise and spread of food production |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-03891-0 |oclc=35792200 |chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes |id=PWnWRFEGoeUC |page=176 }}}}</ref>}}<ref name="Larson">{{cite journal | vauthors = Larson G, Burger J | title = A population genetics view of animal domestication | journal = Trends in Genetics | volume = 29 | issue = 4 | pages = 197–205 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23415592 | doi = 10.1016/j.tig.2013.01.003 | url = https://www.palaeobarn.com/sites/domestication.org.uk/files/downloads/98.pdf | access-date = 9 November 2016 | archive-date = 8 June 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190608065300/http://www.palaeobarn.com/sites/domestication.org.uk/files/downloads/98.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> This transition from hunting and gathering to [[pastoralism|herding flocks]] and [[agriculture|growing crops]] was a major step in human history. The new agricultural economies, based on domesticated mammals, caused "radical restructuring of human societies, worldwide alterations in biodiversity, and significant changes in the Earth's landforms and its atmosphere... momentous outcomes".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zeder MA | title = Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 105 | issue = 33 | pages = 11597–11604 | date = August 2008 | pmid = 18697943 | pmc = 2575338 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0801317105 | bibcode = 2008PNAS..10511597Z | doi-access = free }}</ref>

[[Domestication|Domestic]] mammals form a large part of the [[livestock]] raised for [[meat]] across the world. They include (2009) around 1.4&nbsp;billion [[cattle]], 1&nbsp;billion [[sheep]], 1&nbsp;billion [[domestic pig]]s,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Graphic detail Charts, maps and infographics. Counting chickens |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/07/global-livestock-counts |access-date=6 November 2016 |date=27 July 2011 |archive-date=15 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715181213/http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/07/global-livestock-counts |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=Cattle Today |url=https://cattle-today.com/ |title=Breeds of Cattle at CATTLE TODAY |publisher=Cattle-today.com |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715234745/https://cattle-today.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and (1985) over 700&nbsp;million rabbits.<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Lukefahr SD, Cheeke PR |title=Rabbit project development strategies in subsistence farming systems |url=https://www.fao.org/docrep/U4900T/u4900T0m.htm |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-date=6 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506105314/https://www.fao.org/docrep/U4900T/u4900T0m.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Working animal|Working domestic animals]] including cattle and horses have been used for work and [[transport]] from the origins of agriculture, their numbers declining with the arrival of mechanised transport and [[agricultural machinery]]. In 2004 they still provided some 80% of the power for the mainly small farms in the third world, and some 20% of the world's transport, again mainly in rural areas. In mountainous regions unsuitable for wheeled vehicles, [[pack animal]]s continue to transport goods.<ref name="Pond2004">{{cite book |vauthors=Pond WG |title=Encyclopedia of Animal Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SQl7Ao3mHoC&pg=PA248 |year=2004 |publisher=CRC Press |oclc=57033325 |isbn=978-0-8247-5496-9 |pages=248–250 |access-date=5 October 2018 |archive-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123110032/https://books.google.com/books?id=1SQl7Ao3mHoC&pg=PA248 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mammal skins provide [[leather]] for [[shoe]]s, [[clothing]] and [[upholstery]]. [[Wool]] from mammals including sheep, goats and [[alpaca]]s has been used for centuries for clothing.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Braaten AW |title=Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion |year=2005 |volume=3 |publisher=[[Thomson Gale]] |isbn=978-0-684-31394-8 |oclc=963977000 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00vale/page/441 441–443] | veditors = Steele V |chapter=Wool |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00vale/page/441 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Quiggle C | title = Alpaca: An Ancient Luxury | journal = Interweave Knits | date =Fall 2000 | pages = 74–76 }}</ref>
[[File:Distribution of Mammals on Earth.png|thumb|504x504px|Livestock make up 62% of the world's mammal biomass; humans account for 34%; and wild mammals are just 4%<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wild mammals make up only a few percent of the world's mammals |url=https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass |date=2022-12-15 |access-date=8 August 2023 |website=[[Our World in Data]] |first=Hannah |last=Ritchie |author-link=Hannah Ritchie}}</ref>]]
Mammals serve a major role in science as [[animal model|experimental animals]], both in fundamental biological research, such as in genetics,<ref>{{cite web |title=Genetics Research |url=https://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/genetics.html |publisher=Animal Health Trust |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212193051/http://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/genetics.html |archive-date=12 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in the development of new medicines, which must be tested exhaustively to demonstrate their [[pharmacovigilance|safety]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Drug Development |url=https://www.animalresearch.info/en/drug-development/ |publisher=Animal Research.info |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-date=8 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608124406/https://www.animalresearch.info/en/drug-development/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Millions of mammals, especially mice and rats, are used in [[animal testing|experiments]] each year.<ref name="EUstatistics2013">{{cite web |title=EU statistics show decline in animal research numbers |url=https://speakingofresearch.com/2013/12/12/eu-statistics-show-decline-in-animal-research-numbers/ |publisher=Speaking of Research |year=2013 |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424155141/https://speakingofresearch.com/2013/12/12/eu-statistics-show-decline-in-animal-research-numbers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[knockout mouse]] is a [[genetically modified mouse]] with an inactivated [[gene]], replaced or disrupted with an artificial piece of DNA. They enable the study of [[sequencing|sequenced]] genes whose functions are unknown.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pilcher HR |url=https://www.nature.com/news/1998/030512/full/news030512-17.html |title=It's a knockout |journal=Nature |date=2003 |access-date=6 November 2016 |doi=10.1038/news030512-17 |archive-date=10 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110084106/http://www.nature.com/news/1998/030512/full/news030512-17.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A small percentage of the mammals are non-human primates, used in research for their similarity to humans.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.ebra.org/ebrabulletin-the-supply-and-use-of-primates-in-the-eu_17.htm | title=The supply and use of primates in the EU | year=1996 | publisher=European Biomedical Research Association | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117061036/http://www.ebra.org/ebrabulletin-the-supply-and-use-of-primates-in-the-eu_17.htm | archive-date=17 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="Carlsson2004">{{cite journal | vauthors = Carlsson HE, Schapiro SJ, Farah I, Hau J | title = Use of primates in research: a global overview | journal = American Journal of Primatology | volume = 63 | issue = 4 | pages = 225–237 | date = August 2004 | pmid = 15300710 | doi = 10.1002/ajp.20054 | s2cid = 41368228 }}</ref><ref name="Weatherall_etal2006">{{Cite report| vauthors = Weatherall D |display-authors=etal |year=2006 |title=The use of non-human primates in research |location=London |publisher=Academy of Medical Sciences |url=https://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/images/project/nhpdownl.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323084639/http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/images/project/nhpdownl.pdf |archive-date=23 March 2013 }}</ref>

Despite the benefits domesticated mammals had for human development, humans have an increasingly detrimental effect on wild mammals across the world. It has been estimated that the mass of all ''wild'' mammals has declined to only 4% of all mammals, with 96% of mammals being humans and their livestock now (see figure). In fact, terrestrial wild mammals make up only 2% of all mammals.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=[[Hannah Ritchie|Ritchie H]], [[Max Roser|Roser M]] |date=15 April 2021 |title=Biodiversity |url=https://ourworldindata.org/mammals |journal=Our World in Data |access-date=29 August 2021 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211132929/https://ourworldindata.org/mammals |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bar-On_2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bar-On YM, Phillips R, Milo R | title = The biomass distribution on Earth | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 115 | issue = 25 | pages = 6506–6511 | date = June 2018 | pmid = 29784790 | pmc = 6016768 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1711842115 | bibcode = 2018PNAS..115.6506B | doi-access = free }}</ref>