Domestication involved many genetic changes

A 2014 rabbit genome study found that domestication was associated with allele-frequency changes at many places in the genome. Most variants common in domestic rabbits also occurred among wild rabbits. The evidence supported selection acting substantially on existing variation, especially in regulatory regions, rather than a universal new mutation that created all domestic rabbit behavior.

Genes associated with brain and neuronal development were enriched among the findings, but enrichment is not a behavioral diagnosis. A DNA region associated with selection does not tell us that every rabbit carrying a variant will be calm, fearful or easy to handle. Many genetic and environmental influences contribute to behavior. This distinction matters for heritage breeds: conserving a population preserves combinations of variation and a breeding history, rather than a single imagined domestication gene. The study explains a broad evolutionary process; it is not a temperament test or a registry assessment for an individual rabbit.