“We turn into our partners, and even our dogs, just by dwelling with
them,” Diprose observes (2002: 70). Such mutual influence, however,
may go well beyond mere traffic in gesture and expression. Leach directs
our attention to the parallel between the somatic transformations
observed in the archaeozoological record of animals going through
the early phases of domestication, and changes noted in human
morphology over corresponding periods—pointing to the shared shift
from robustness to gracility that is especially evident in the face and
head. A key factor in this convergence, she suggests, is the cultural
modification of the environment in ways that protect both humans
and their livestock from many of the physical challenges—and thus
the selective pressures—associated with a more free-ranging existence.
“For the human, the combination of adoption of a built environment,
change in diet consistency, and lowered mobility brought about
morphological changes similar to those seen in domestic animals”
(Leach 2003: 360).”

Nigel Clark, Animal Interface: The Generosity of Domestication, in Rebecca Cassidy & Molly Mullin, Where the Wild Things Are Now: Domestication Reconsidered, 2007

“Once out of the body you will be able to choose any form you like, and change it as often as you like. Animal, vegetable, mineral. The gods appeared in human form and animal form, and they changed others into trees or birds. Those were stories about the future. We have always known that we are not limited to the shape we inhabit.”

Jeanette Winterson, Frankissstein: A Love Story, 2019

“The fox, however, keeps away;
He knows what they of him will say,
For he has badly injured all;
So, loudly though they may him call,
He will not e'en excuses send.”

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Reynard the Fox, 1794, tr. by J.S. Cobb

“En ræv og en gedebuk som var ved at gå til af tørst, sprang ned i en brønd for at få noget at drikke. Da de havde drukket rigeligt, begyndte de at tænke på, hvordan de skulle komme op af brønden igen. Efter en tid fik ræven en god ide.
- Du skal bare stille dig på bagbenene, sagde ræven. - Støt så med forbenene og hornene mod muren, så kan jeg nemt kravle op ad ryggen på dig, og så snart jeg er oppe, kan jeg hjælpe dig op også.
(...) Så snart ræven var fri igen, begyndte den at springe lystigt omkring og havde tilsyneladende glemt geden (...)
- Min ven svarede ræven. - Min fine ven! Hvis du havde lige så meget forstand, som du har skæg, så ville du aldrig være gået ned i den brønd uden først at have udtænkt en måde at komme op igen! ”

Æsop, Æsops Fabler. Genfortalt af Gabriela og Vagn Lundbye, 1986/2003