# Can we basically breed littler versions of just about any animals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159 "2026-01-29T18:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/1 "2026-01-29T18:52:48Z")
(Sorry, today’s clearly my day for idle questions.) Humans have a tradition of tinkering with the animals we breed. We developed horse breeds with vastly different coat colors. Hens that lay eggs virtually every day. Cows with all sorts of horn shapes. Obviously this goes for size, too. Look at Great Danes versus chihuahuas. Those smallish pigs some people keep for pets. Mini horses. And so on. And this without high-tech radiation treatments or advanced DNA tinkering or anything. We just bred the ones with the most of whatever trait we are looking for together and picked the best of the resulting litters and then bred them together and so on. Easy peasy, cavemen could do it. So, can it be done with basically any animal that we can control the breeding of? Personally, I think it would be fun to have a herd of three foot tall giraffes. Let’s get on it? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/2 "2026-01-29T18:58:36Z")
I bet poodle-sized elephants would be popular. But I would hate to think a weasel the size of a German Shepherd. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/3 "2026-01-29T19:18:33Z")
I wanted similar things when I was a kid (My idea was a puppy that never developed adult dog characteristics remaining extremely cute until death) but I was told by my aunt that it would be really cruel to the animal, selecting for small giraffes could lead to all sort of genetic problems in the breed. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/4 "2026-01-29T19:35:10Z")
To answer your question, yes, within reason. I don’t think you could breed a mouse-sized elephant, no matter how hard you tried, but for most physical characteristics, given enough time and effort, you could modify almost any animal. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/5 "2026-01-29T19:37:09Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > So, can it be done with basically any animal that we can control the breeding of? > > Personally, I think it would be fun to have a herd of three foot tall giraffes. Let’s get on it? It’s not quite that simple. There are limits to how directly scaling works. For example, a giraffe is able to be so slender and yet tall because of the properties of bone and muscle. Scaling those might make bits too fragile. Or the genes controlling size also control the length of legs and necks. Think of dwarf humans. They tend to have full-sized torsos and stumpy legs or legs and arms. That wouldn’t make much of a giraffe. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/6 "2026-01-29T19:38:12Z")
If whales could evolve from hyena-like land animals I guess we could make mouse size elephants too, it’s just a matter of time and money (which I grant would probably run out before the objective is achieved) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/7 "2026-01-29T19:40:54Z")
Sure, but I’d imagine the problem would be the time scales involved. The way it works is that you breed the smallest ones together in each generation. So they get a _little_ smaller each time, hopefully. Over a long time, this’ll end up with a smaller animal. You see this in food-limited environments where the smaller animals survive, putting evolutionary pressure toward smaller animals. But to get an animal to any sort of reasonably small size like that, it takes a LOT of generations. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/8 "2026-01-29T19:48:19Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I bet poodle-sized elephants would be popular. Even smaller: > **[The wonderfully weird world of tenrecs | Natural History Museum](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-weird-world-of-tenrecs.html)** > > You may know of Madagascar's fossas and lemurs, but have you heard of tenrecs? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/9 "2026-01-29T19:52:35Z")
Behold, the mighty hyrax. > **[National Geographic on Instagram: "Rock hyraxes look like rodents, but they...](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTYg9a_gHGM/)** > > 99K likes, 373 comments - natgeo on January 11, 2026: "Rock hyraxes look like rodents, but they evolved from the same ancient ancestors as elephants. They've even got the tiny tusks to prove it.". ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/10 "2026-01-29T20:04:51Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I don’t think you could breed a mouse-sized elephant, no matter how hard you tried I’m certain you could _eventually_, or at least your descendants could. Elephants evolved from ancestors the size of a hyrax or shrew, and after becoming gigantic made it back to the size of a dog: [![](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2025/01/Size-comparison-of-the-Sicilian-species-Palaeoloxodon-falconeri-one-of-the-smallest-dwarf-elephants-compared-to-a-human.png?webp=1&w=1200) ](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2025/01/Size-comparison-of-the-Sicilian-species-Palaeoloxodon-falconeri-one-of-the-smallest-dwarf-elephants-compared-to-a-human.png?webp=1&w=1200) In Sicily, where dwarf elephants were slightly larger - the size of a pony - we have evidence that the shrinking happened quickly, in about 40 generations or a little over a thousand years. Human directed selective breeding could probably achieve smaller sizes and a faster turnaround. [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-sicilian-dwarf-elephants-diverged-colossal-ancestor-180978110/#:~:text=However%2C%20new%20fossil%20analysis%20suggests%20that%20the,the%20Gemmellaro%20Geological%20Museum%20in%20Palermo%2C%20Italy](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-sicilian-dwarf-elephants-diverged-colossal-ancestor-180978110/#:~:text=However%2C%20new%20fossil%20analysis%20suggests%20that%20the,the%20Gemmellaro%20Geological%20Museum%20in%20Palermo%2C%20Italy). ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/11 "2026-01-29T20:06:19Z")
> [@bump](#): > > But to get an animal to any sort of reasonably small size like that, it takes a LOT of generations. Not nearly as many as you’d think, if the selective pressure is strong enough. Evolution can happen very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/12 "2026-01-29T20:12:58Z")
In the fox experiment, it only took about 30 generations (a little less than 30 years) of selective breeding to produce dog-like foxes: [Domesticated silver fox - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox) By 40 years on: > Trut wrote in 1999 “that after 40 years of the experiment, and the breeding of 45,000 foxes, a group of animals had emerged that were as tame and as eager to please as a dog.” Fitch described the tame foxes as “incredibly endearing”. Elephant reproduction cycles are much longer, though, maybe taking 10-15 years to reach sexual maturity. 30 generations of that might take half a millennium. That’s assuming we couldn’t use GMO editing along the way to help speed it up, just selective breeding. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/13 "2026-01-29T20:22:14Z")
Teacup pigs aren’t real > **[The truth about teacup pigs](https://bestfriends.org/stories/features/truth-about-teacup-pigs)** > > Is there such a thing as a teacup pig or a micro mini pig? Best Friends sets the record straight. Please read before you buy a baby ‘tea pig' piglet. I actually know a family that bought one for their kids thinking it would be small forever..about six months after they got it, it kept growing!!! ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/14 "2026-01-29T23:26:29Z")
A dwarf-sized elephant was once native to the Philippines, but I am not sure how big a dwarf elephant would be. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/15 "2026-01-29T23:27:44Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > but I am not sure how big a dwarf elephant would be. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want one on my lap. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/16 "2026-01-29T23:29:14Z")
Nice to imagine a 1/10 scale African savanna, A national park would be the size of a golf course. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/17 "2026-01-29T23:30:31Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > A dwarf-sized elephant was once native to the Philippines, but I am not sure how big a dwarf elephant would be. The Sicilian dwarf elephant was discussed above, and I linked a diagram of its size. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/18 "2026-01-29T23:33:18Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > A dwarf-sized elephant was once native to the Philippines, but I am not sure how big a dwarf elephant would be. Ok cool! I didn’t realize it actually existed. I thought the diagram was hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/19 "2026-01-29T23:43:48Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Ok cool! I didn’t realize it actually existed. Well, not anymore - they’re all dead now. But the diagram is of a real fossil species of Paleolaxodon. The Phillipine Dwarf Elephant seems to be in some dispute; it’s only known from a single tooth which was identified as a molar, but it may in fact be a different tooth which would have come from a larger animal. The Sicilian elephant is known from better material. There were also dwarf mammoths on islands near California and dwarf stegodons on Flores at the same time as dwarf hominids. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159/20 "2026-01-30T02:00:49Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I wanted similar things when I was a kid (My idea was a puppy that never developed adult dog characteristics remaining extremely cute until death) This was in fact part of the domestication process for both dogs and cats. Domesticated animals are more childlike than their wild cousins. This seems to have been a byproduct of selecting animals for being more friendly and obedient towards humans. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-basically-breed-littler-versions-of-just-about-any-animals/1027159.md?page=2)