🌅 How Humans Shape Animal Evolution

SOURCE

Winchell et al. (2023)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at New York University found Anolis cristatellus lizards that once dwelled in forests but now roam across cities possess 33 genes associated with urbanization that their forest-dwelling cousins lack. The urban lizards have significantly longer limbs and larger toe pads with more specialized scales on their toes, supporting the team’s earlier research suggesting the traits have evolved to help the lizards thrive in cities.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Some animals evolve at an unexpectedly fast pace through a process that is sometimes called “unnatural selection.” The rapid change boosts survival by conserving traits as they become newly beneficial, however, it can also come with the downside of losing other, more important traits. One example are Britain’s famous red squirrels, which appear to have developed a weaker bite as a result of their human-induced, peanut-heavy diet.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Humans have spent the past 30,000 years shaping the evolution of species, impacting everything from the demeanor of domesticated dogs to the color of urban moths. Experts say humanity’s combination of industrialized farming, urbanization, climate change, and species translocation has created unprecedented pressure on species and their environments, making humans the world’s greatest evolutionary force.