There was an occasional lone guanaco, the wild cousin of the llama.

The reindeer are marked with colored plastic ear tags but, more important, have far less endurance than their wild cousins.

In rural Asia, they said, domestic cows often interbreed with their wild cousins of other species.

Besides, most domesticated dogs had no sense of kinship with their wild cousins.

But they cannot match their wild cousins for flavor or perfume.

Still, possibly because of our love for the domestic horse, its wild cousins have become cultural icons, symbols of freedom.

On the other hand, any domesticated riding horses were probably the same size as their wild cousins and cannot now be distinguished by bone measurements.

But while the white laboratory rats are often considered cute and sometimes kept as pets, their wild brown cousins almost always evoke alarm or disgust.

Selva, which ripens before Christmas, is tart and has very little in common with its wild cousins.

They are less successful at reproduction than their wild cousins, but researchers say there is little doubt that crossbreeding is taking place.