http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/survival-in-the-city-20130426-2ijsn.html
A great, comprehensive article about species that thrive in urban areas… birds, insects, mammals and marine species.
There is also an interesting bit about changes in populations and how this may be the start of new species evolving.
Did you see on Attenborough’s Galapagos how the finches around the area of human settlement are de-evolving back to a standard, all-purpose beak shape?
Convergently evolving.
OCDC said:
Convergently evolving.
sumfing like that
>>de-evolving back to a standard, all-purpose beak shape
Missed that. Thanks.
OCDC said:
Convergently evolving.
The fing wot got Charlie Darwin all a-flutter is now happenin’ in reverse.
>>Here is an interesting bit about marine species and tolerance to contaminants (cross-over from contaminated soil thread):
Over two to three generations many invertebrates will increase their tolerance to contaminants by five to 10 times, Johnston says. ‘‘Rapid evolution is not uncommon, especially to contaminants.’‘
ohnston has noticed a similar trend in the offspring of native barnacles. Offspring whose parents were collected from Port Kembla or Port Botany showed a greater tolerance to copper than the young of Clyde River barnacles.
‘‘But we need multiple generations to express the same traits to show there has been rapid evolution,’‘ she says.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/survival-in-the-city-20130426-2ijsn.html#ixzz2Ri6NYMAo
> Did you see on Attenborough’s Galapagos how the finches around the area of human settlement are de-evolving back to a standard, all-purpose beak shape?
Did see that. It’s no different to human, just interbreeding between races.
mollwollfumble said:
Did see that. It’s no different to human, just interbreeding between races.
Humans are all the same species though.
> Yards filled with flowering plants and fruit trees encourage omnivorous birds such as currawongs, bowerbirds and the city’s most despised resident – the noisy miner. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/survival-in-the-city-20130426-2ijsn.html#ixzz2RkEfB5KT
Gargle, choke. The most despised resident of Australian Cities is the Common or Indian Mynah, not the Noisy Miner. But it’s the Noisy Miner that is correlated with the decline in small birds such as the Superb Fairy Wren.