what animals were domesticated by humans in the americas, before and after the columbian exchange?
Before the Columbian Exchange, only a small handful of animal species were truly domesticated in the Americas, mostly in Mesoamerica and the Andes, and after 1492 a large suite of Eurasian livestock (cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, chickens) was brought in and rapidly transformed Indigenous economies and landscapes.
Before the Columbian Exchange
Archaeology and zooarchaeology show that very few animals were fully domesticated in the pre‑Columbian Americas compared to Eurasia.
Key pre‑Columbian domesticates (New World origin):
- Dogs – present by at least 9500 BCE in North America; used for hunting, hauling, companionship, ritual, and sometimes food.
- Llamas – domesticated in the Andes as pack animals and for meat and wool; no true wheeled transport, so llamas were the main large beasts of burden of the highlands.
- Alpacas – primarily wool animals of the Andean highlands, closely related to llamas but specialized for fiber.
- Guinea pig (cuy) – domesticated in the Andes for food and ritual use; bones appear at sites by the mid‑Holocene.
- Turkey – domesticated in Mesoamerica (and separately in the Southwest U.S.) as a meat and feather bird; documented archaeologically by the first millennium CE.
- Muscovy duck – domesticated in tropical lowland regions (e.g., parts of Central and South America) as a meat bird.
- Stingless bees – managed in Mesoamerica (especially by the Maya) for honey and wax; often treated as a form of insect “domestication.”
- Cochineal insect – a sap‑sucking scale insect raised on nopal cactus for carmine red dye; included in scholarly lists of New World domesticates.
Important nuances:
- Many other animals (macaws, parrots, deer, etc.) were tamed or kept as pets, but are not considered fully domesticated because they did not undergo sustained genetic and behavioral change under human breeding.
- Large native mammals such as bison, deer, or tapirs were heavily hunted and sometimes managed on the landscape, but not truly domesticated like cattle or sheep.
After the Columbian Exchange
From the late 15th century onward, Europeans brought a wide range of Old World domestic animals to the Americas, creating a radically new human–animal landscape.
Major introductions from Eurasia and Africa:
- Horses – reintroduced to the Americas and quickly adopted by many Indigenous peoples, especially on the Great Plains, revolutionizing hunting, mobility, warfare, and trade.
- Cattle – spread widely in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and later English colonies; used for meat, milk, hides, and as draft animals, and became feral in many regions.
- Pigs – extremely adaptable omnivores; often free‑ranged, they damaged Indigenous fields but also became a key meat resource for colonists.
- Sheep – important for wool and meat, especially in Spanish‑controlled highlands; their grazing reshaped American grasslands.
- Goats – hardy browsers used for meat and milk in marginal environments.
- Donkeys and mules – critical pack and draft animals in mines, plantations, and transport networks.
- Chickens – became ubiquitous small livestock, integrating into Indigenous and colonial villages alike.
- Cats – arrived with ships and colonists as vermin control and quickly became common domestic animals in towns and missions.
These post‑1492 animals:
- Altered ecosystems through grazing, rooting, and trampling, often displacing native species and changing fire regimes.
- Transformed Indigenous economies by providing new sources of meat, transport, and wealth, but also brought new forms of labor exploitation and land seizure tied to ranching and plantations.
Simple before/after overview
| Period | Region (broad) | Main domesticated animals | Primary human uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre‑Columbian (before 1492) | Pan‑American | Dog | Hunting, hauling, ritual, companionship, sometimes food | [7][5]
| Pre‑Columbian | Andes | Llama, alpaca, guinea pig | Pack animals, wool, meat, ritual offerings | [1][5]
| Pre‑Columbian | Mesoamerica & SW North America | Turkey, stingless bees, cochineal insect | Meat, feathers, honey, wax, red dye | [3][5]
| Pre‑Columbian | Tropical lowlands | Muscovy duck | Meat and ritual use | [5]
| Post‑Columbian (after 1492) | Across the Americas | Horse, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, chickens, cats | Transport, draft power, meat, milk, wool, hides, pest control, wealth storage | [8][6]
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.