Darwin-L Message Log 2:106 (October 1993)

Academic Discussion on the History and Theory of the Historical Sciences

This is one message from the Archives of Darwin-L (1993–1997), a professional discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.

Note: Additional publications on evolution and the historical sciences by the Darwin-L list owner are available on SSRN.

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<2:106>From princeh@husc.harvard.edu  Wed Oct 20 14:27:32 1993

Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1993 15:05:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Patricia Princehouse <princeh@husc.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: mss polymorphism/dog breeds
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu

On Mon, 18 Oct 1993 LARRYS@psc.plymouth.edu wrote:

> that in General Biology textbooks, when the evolution of the horse is
> described, the textbook authors state that Eohippus, one of the ancestral
> forms, was the size of a (an I may have this somewhat wrong) collier/
> terrier, a dog from the coal mines of Wales.  What is interesting, is the
> fact that this dog is no longer a very common breed of dog, yet the
> textbook writers rather than mutating the dog into a modern day form of
> dog, eg, golden retriever, poodle, etc., continue to use the old name
> as referenced in earlier textbooks.
	This may stray a bit too far from the subject, but as a dog
fancier, I would be very interested in any reference you could provide as
to this collier/terrier breed used in coal mines. The only reference I
know on the textbook subject is Gould's Nat Hist column from @ 1987 which
shows the change going from fox (as in Vulpes) to Fox Terrier (a breed
still very much around today) and continuing as Fox Terrier in generations
of text books. I'm familiar with many rare terriers but have never heard
of one from Welsh coal mines. If you can think of any possible reference
at all, I'd be eager to hear of it. (by the way, there's nothing new about
the Golden Retriever and Poodle. Like the Fox Terrier, these breeds have
been around much longer than the taxon Eohippus or even Hyracotherium).

Thanks,
	-Patricia Princehouse

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