Editing Breed (section)

{{Short description|Specific group of domestic animals}}
{{Other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2014}}
[[File:Braunvieh am Simplonpass, Schweiz.jpg|thumb|[[Braunvieh]], a dairy breed<ref>{{cite web |work=The Cattle Sit |url= https://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/dairy/31/brown-swiss/ |title=Breeds:German owl |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref> with high milk production and little [[milk fat]]]]
A '''breed''' is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having [[homogeneous]] appearance ([[phenotype]]), homogeneous [[behavior]], and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same [[species]]. In literature, there exist several slightly deviating definitions.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=S. J. G. |last1=Hall |first2=D. G. |last2=Bradley |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |title=Conserving livestock breed biodiversity |volume=10 |date=1995 |issue=7 |pages=267–70 |doi=10.1016/0169-5347(95)90005-5 |pmid=21237034}}</ref> Breeds are formed through [[genetic isolation]] and either natural [[adaptation]] to the environment or [[selective breeding]], or a combination of the two. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry and agriculture, no single, scientifically accepted definition of the term exists.{{r|fao|p=340}} A breed is therefore not an objective or biologically verifiable classification but is instead a [[term of art]] amongst groups of breeders who share a consensus around what qualities make some members of a given species members of a nameable subset.{{r|lush}}

Another point of view is that a breed is consistent enough in type to be logically grouped together and when mated within the group produce the same type.<ref>Clutton-Brock, Juliet. 1987 ''A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals'', Cambridge University Press and the Museum of Natural History, page 40.</ref> When bred together, individuals of the same breed pass on these predictable traits to their offspring, and this ability{{snd}}known as "[[breeding true]]"{{snd}}is a requirement for a breed. [[Plant]] breeds are more commonly known as [[cultivar]]s. The offspring produced as a result of breeding animals of one breed with other animals of another breed are known as [[crossbreed]]s or mixed breeds. Crosses between animal or plant variants above the level of breed/cultivar (i.e. between species, [[subspecies]], [[Variety (botany)|botanical ''variety'']], even different [[Genus|genera]]) are referred to as ''[[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Banga |first=Surinder S. |date=1998 |title=Hybrid Cultivar Development |page=119 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=3540635238}} <!--This is cited only for the fact that plant crosses above the cultivar level are called hybrids; doesn't address animals.--></ref>