from the are-they-in-a-new-exhibit-in-Kentucky? dept.
Humans aren't just causing species to become extinct. We are also inadvertently creating new species by changing environments, building novel ecosystems, and rapidly transporting organisms all over the globe:
A growing number of examples show that humans not only contribute to the extinction of species but also drive evolution, and in some cases the emergence of entirely new species. This can take place through mechanisms such as accidental introductions, domestication of animals and crops, unnatural selection due to hunting, or the emergence of novel ecosystems such as the urban environment.
[...] "The prospect of 'artificially' gaining novel species through human activities is unlikely to elicit the feeling that it can offset losses of 'natural' species. Indeed, many people might find the prospect of an artificially biodiverse world just as daunting as an artificially impoverished one" says lead author and Postdoc Joseph Bull from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen.
The study which was carried out in collaboration with the University of Queensland was published today in Proceedings of Royal Society B [DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0600]. It highlights numerous examples of how human activities influence species' evolution. For instance: as the common house mosquito adapted to the environment of the underground railway system in London, it established a subterranean population. Now named the 'London Underground mosquito', it can no longer interbreed with its above ground counterpart and is effectively thought to be a new species.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 09 2016, @03:27AM
How wet does your basement have to be to actually have mosquitoes breeding down there?
I don't think there is such a thing as a common house mosquito, at least not since the invention of the screened window. They all come from outside.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Saturday July 09 2016, @03:37AM
I'll just leave these speculations here. [youtube.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @05:47AM
You see giraffes? My handy work.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @08:09AM
Can you fine-tune them to eat bats? I believe there is a good market for bat-eating giraffes.
(Score: 2) by deimios on Saturday July 09 2016, @06:19AM
Recently there was a documentary about raccoons and how the city variant is super intelligent when compared to the normal forest variant due to cities being much more tricky to navigate. Over time the two strains will split into their own subspecies.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 09 2016, @06:35AM
Doubt that.
The interbreed at the city edge. They migrate back and forth.
And the differences are simply learned wariness of those threats that are actually encountered. Learned from mom. Not knowing what berries are poisonous in the woods is just as dangerous as not knowing when to cross the street.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday July 09 2016, @11:08PM
You're probably right, but only because each city is a separate small isolated population. Check out "ring species". The interbreeding at the edges doesn't prevent the two ends from effectively becoming separate species.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 09 2016, @06:57AM
Interesting... and skunks? I have a couple hanging around that seem more interested in my cat's kibble bowl than anything else.
If I happen to feed my cats in her presence, she ambles right up and my cats slink away... so the trick in getting my cats fed is to make sure she isn't around first.
I wonder how long its going to take her to learn to hide and expose herself only after the food is served.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @08:58AM
and expose herself only after the food is served.
I used to date someone like that. I used to rush home from work for dinner. I'm not allowed at my family's Thanksgiving get-togethers anymore (not to mention some restaurants).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Hartree on Saturday July 09 2016, @07:07AM
Our machines, rapid transportation and changes to environments are driving another species to evolve rapidly. Us.
It's not just the direct effect of our machines on us, but on the environments we live in. When we bring new parasites and pathogens in, we rapidly expose large numbers of us to ones they wouldn't have come up against for long periods of time, if ever.
Just one example. More swift and reliable sea transport brought disease that destroyed whole civilizations and largely left only those small numbers that had some ability to resist them. That's a heck of a genetic funnel. The case I'm thinking about is smallpox and other diseases when Europeans introduced them into the Americas. There have been others.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Saturday July 09 2016, @11:37AM
Humans have already for millennia been responsible for countless variations of cattle, dogs, cats, birds, insects and whatnot.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bart9h on Saturday July 09 2016, @01:53PM
Also, most any species that interact with the environment also drive evolution of the others. Nothing new here.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday July 09 2016, @12:30PM
So can 'nerdus basementus' mate with real women still?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @01:40PM
Well, it's been rumored that it may be physically possible, as in "anything is possible", but have never been witnessed, not even indirectly, so ... safe to consider it an old wives' tale to scare away young girls at night time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @04:28PM
Politicians. They lie their arse off to get elected and once in office do nothing for the 99%.
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday July 09 2016, @07:22PM
This may be hard for some to accept but humans are part of the ecosystem. Our regular activities are not artificially driving evolution, they are just driving evolution.* However, when we go out of our way to say, breed a dog that's good for hunting, that is artificial evolution.
* I'm not saying we should tell the rest of the ecosystem to fuck off because that's just evolution because it's vitally important that we alter our behavior as a who to preserve the ecosystem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @10:29PM
http://www.abstrusegoose.com/215 [abstrusegoose.com]