Artificial selection, also known as selective breeding, is a process by which humans choose which animals or plants will sexually reproduce and have offspring, selectively developing particular phenotypic traits. This process is similar to natural selection, but with human interference in the decision-making process. Humans have been artificially selecting plants and animals for thousands of years, and these activities have amounted to large, long-term, practical experiments that clearly demonstrate that species can evolve dramatically through selective breeding.

Some examples of artificial selection include:

• Plants: Farmers and breeders have cultivated many crops from wild mustard by artificially selecting for certain attributes. For example, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, and kohlrabi bear little superficial resemblance to their wild mustard relatives.

• Animals: Domestic dogs evolved from ancient, now-extinct wolf ancestors tens of thousands of years ago, and then, over the last 200 years, humans further selected subsets of dogs, creating Great Danes, Chihuahuas, and the full gamut of more than 450 breeds. An example of artificial selection in agriculture is the selective breeding of chickens for meat or egg production.

Artificial selection is a direct way to determine if a specific trait can evolve in response to selection, and it is better for traits such as physiology and behavior that are difficult to measure through sibling analysis.