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City life is causing animals to evolve
#1
City life is causing animal populations to evolve. City conditions are different from the normal wild areas. In particular cities and human occupied areas have more pollution. Species members that can tolerate pollution will do better.
There are a number of adaptions that we have observed.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


The question we want to ask is how do the changes effect the animals in the long term. Urban animals are different from their country  cousins. Is this a good thing or a bad thing.

Our cities are changing the plants and animals. I wonder how they are changing us?
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Catherine

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#2
It seems like an 'adaptation to survive' mechanism, which has been there since the year dot. Even rural animals and all species of living thing have to do the same. It's the very nature of evolution.

And yes it can happen very fast. It is quite exciting.

Any condition that requires an adaptation results in evolution. That affects humans as well.
That is not only physical evolution but psychological evolution also..
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#3
Quote:And yes it can happen very fast. It is quite exciting.
Yes, it is exciting to watch. Raccoons are clever enough in the country. City raccoons are a whole different level of clever. They climb through open windows, open people's cupboards and frigs, take the lids off containers and have a feast. They haven't figured out how to open cans, but they probably will learn to use electric can openers. There will be no stopping them after that.

Our city food waste program has green bins that we put our food waste in and they are picked up for composting. Raccoons can open the lids of those bins no problem. We have had to develop special raccoon proof green bins. They are just being delivered to some areas right now. I don't have one yet. How long will it be before the raccoons figure out how to open them.

So will the raccoons in the city figure the new bins out before I even get mine?

I have seen videos of pigeons and even raccoons riding on the subway trains. They clearly know where they are going. When the train pulls into their station they get off confidently.

This is a pretty fast adaption to new technology. There are people who have trouble with the transit system and there are many people who can't figure out which bin to put what garbage in. The raccoons know which one to open.
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Catherine

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