It’s a new and surprising chapter in the theory of evolution. According to recent studies, it’s in our cities, of all places, that animals and plants adapt particularly quickly to changing living conditions. New research provides surprising new insights into Darwin’s theory of evolution. Biologists have long known that animals and plants occupy new habitats in the vicinity of humans. But now, new genetic analyses show that these adaptations are accompanied by significant changes in DNA.
Nature’s response to the spread of cities is astonishing: Why do catfish in the river of a French city systematically prey on urban pigeons on the banks? Why do female birds on a university campus in California suddenly change their mating behavior? How do mice in New York’s Central Park cope with an altered diet of human food waste? How have killifish in the Atlantic built up resistance to deadly chemical waste? And, is it possible for moths to adapt to nighttime light pollution?
New research in Nature provides surprising new insights into Darwin’s theory of evolution. Nowhere else do animals and plants adapt so quickly to new living conditions as in cities. Biologists have long known that animals and plants occupy new habitats in the vicinity of humans. But now, new genetic analyses show that these adaptations are accompanied by significant changes in DNA.
2019 / 42 minutes / Martin Gronemeyer, Michaela Kirst
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