Domestication had long-range consequences for the animals themselves; the very nature of the animals changed throughout the process — typically not in the animals’ favor. Through domestication, once-wild animals become increasingly more dependent on humans, physically and emotionally. Because a handful of traits (such as curiosity, lack of fear, willingness to try new things, food begging, submissiveness, etc.) found among the juveniles of a species are those selected in domestication, the physical traits of the young (shorter faces, excess fat, smaller brains, smaller teeth, etc.) will also be selected. This leads to modern domesticates that are physically and behaviorally unable to live independently and that are, in fact, perpetual juveniles. Once humans began selectively breeding their animal charges to emphasize or discourage certain physical or behavioral traits, the animals changed even further. Today, domesticates are, for the most part, smaller (yet fleshier), more brightly colored, with shorter faces, and rounder skulls. In addition, domestication has resulted in a permanent loss of genetic diversity within the species.
What's the exact menaing of the word 'charges'?
