Rapid Evolution

By Anton Lennikov

Evolution has typically been pretty slow

Yet it’s recently been speeding up

How come?Rapid environmental changes have forced animals to evolve much faster than before

Modern examples:

London mosquitoes

• Mosquitoes moved into the London Underground tunnels when they were first being built some 150 years ago !

• They’ve now evolved to the extent that they can’t interbreed with mosquitoes living above-ground

Italian wall lizards

• 10 lizards were introduced to the Croatian island Pod Mrcaru in 1971!

• They developed better bite strength, a larger head and a whole new digestive tract

Whales in Antarctica

• Blue and pygmy whales are joining together to form a hybrid species!

• Possibly due to climate change

African elephants

• Elephants are being hunted by poachers for their tusks!

• Elephants with a rare genetic mutation that causes them to be tusk-less are able to thrive