Explore the surprising findings from Carl Linnaeus’ 18th-century feeding experiments, which reveal the dietary preferences of various livestock animals, including cows and goats.
The Historic Experiment of Linnaeus
One of ecology’s most famous experiments was carried out in the 18th century by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. He gathered 643 different plant species and either fed them to horses, cattle, pigs or to ship or goats.
This epic work, known as his thesis ‘Pan Svecicus’ where he conducted no less than 2325 experiments and published this in 1749. But these results of this original work had mostly never been reanalyzed for over 275 years until researchers from Uppsala University went and did it.
Linnaeus’ study provided the “first experiment in what would only become ecology as a discipline in the late 19th century,” wrote Håkan Rydin, Professor of Plant Ecology at Uppsala University. The sheer size of the experiment, studying an incredible number of plants and animals, was really unprecedented at that time.
Dietary Habits You Didnt Even Know_published on Medium
An analysis of the data available to Linnaeus has revealed some interesting dietary affordances for the different taxa. Results from the experiment show that pigs were the choosiest eaters, eating just 32% of the 204 plant species offered to all animals.
Horses (59%) were second, followed by cows (66%), sheep (82%), and goats (85%). Animals were demonstrably biased with regard to utilizing legumes and grasses but less so in avoiding toxic plants.
‘Pigs were doubtless the fussiest eaters because they’re omnivores and do not simply consume plants,’ says Rydin. To our surprise, animals turned out to be pretty bad at avoiding toxic plants. Cows and horses rocked in that matter.
Our results contradicted the traditional conventional belief that goats are more versatile and less selective than cows. The data support the idea that cows are potentially pickier about what they eat, whereas goats have less discerning food preferences.
Conclusion
With the help of these innovative feeding experiments Linnaeus conducted in the 18th century, the dietary preferences of other livestock animals such as cows and goats have revealed as well. The unexpected findings that cows eat with more selectivity than goats are transforming our understanding of animal behavior and ecology. This work will help to provide insights not only into the past but also for possible current animal breeding and conservation.
