Humans affect the evolution of birds!

[Warped]

and of course many other animals but this one is a great read!

Human Feeding Creates New Population of Birds​

By feeding birds, you could alter their evolutionary future, with changes visible in the very near term, scientists now conclude.

Due to winter bird-feeding, what was once a single population of birds has, in fewer than 30 generations, been split into two groups that do not interbreed, despite the fact that they continue to breed side by side in the very same forests.

"Our study documents the profound impact of human activities on the evolutionary trajectories of species," said researcher Martin Schaefer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany. "It shows that we are influencing the fate not only of rare and endangered species, but also of the common ones that surround our daily lives."

Wings of change

Over the course of three-and-a-half years, the scientists followed birds known as blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) in Central Europe after humans began offering food to them. A recent divide has sprung up, with two groups following distinct migration routes in the winter — one southwest in Spain, the other northwest in the United Kingdom.

"The new northwest migratory route is shorter, and those birds feed on food provided by humans instead of fruits as the birds that migrate southwest do," Schaefer said. "As a consequence, birds migrating northwest have rounder wings, which provide better maneuverability but make them less suited for long-distance migration." They also have longer, narrower bills that are less equipped for eating large fruits like olives during the winter.

This discovery, detailed online Dec. 3 in the journal Current Biology, speaks to a long-standing debate in evolution about whether geographic separation is necessary for new species to develop. By now, the level of reproductive isolation between these populations, which live together for part of the year, is now stronger than that of other blackcaps that are always separated from one another by distances of 500 miles (800 km) or more.

"This is a nice example of the speed of evolution," Schaefer said. "It is something that we can see with our own eyes if we only look closely enough. It doesn't have to take millions of years."

If such isolation and differentiation continues, they can ultimately become separate species.

"The initial steps in speciation — that is, the evolution of reproductive isolation, have rarely been studied," Schaefer said. "This is because speciation is necessarily a historic process, and it is extremely difficult to analyze the selective pressures that lead to speciation in hindsight. Here, we can witness those initial steps."

Other species affected

Schaefer doubts these groups of birds will become different species, because the habits of humans will tend to change over time. Still, he expects humanity will continue to influence the evolution of common species.

"For example, introducing honeybees for securing pollination in crop species has the potential to influence plant-pollinator interactions," Schaefer said. "Plants might adapt to the relative lower importance of native pollinators and change to a more generalistic floral design that could be more efficiently exploited by honeybees."

When it comes to the evolutionary potential of species to adapt to modern impacts on the environment, such as ones caused by climate change, "We know that many of the species are likely unable to adapt quickly to such changes," Schaefer said. "However, I think that the blackcap provides a good example that some species are able to adapt quickly to contemporary ecological changes. This, I believe, is an important and positive result in the current debate, although I need to caution that we cannot extrapolate it easily to other species."

http://www.livescience.com/animals/091203-birdfeeding-evolution.html

also i noticed they mentioned near term evolution which means fast changes. this could be amazing to notice in other animals as well with control groups and heavy observations. i wonder if its the same with house pets too

 

[Eejit]

Pretty cool.

i wonder if its the same with house pets too

Yeah, maybe one day dogs won't be identical to wolves!

 

[jverne]

Pretty cool.

Yeah, maybe one day dogs won't be identical to wolves!

i bet he's probably looking at a car and thinking it's a moose.

 

[Krynn72]

Evolution isnt real. And if it is then god did it, not humans.

And no shit we affect evolution of bird. We affect everything on the planet, except possibly the deepest parts of the ocean. Pretty interesting to see how quickly the population of those birds changed though.

 

[bbson john]

No! It only shows creator's action in motion. God has just created a new species of bird. It is a proof of creationism.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well I'm pretty sure humans weren't even around to effect the evolution of birds, but we definitely do affect it like we do everything on this planet.

 

[CptStern]

By feeding birds, you could alter their evolutionary future, with changes visible in the very near term, scientists now conclude.

how do they know it's not part of god's master plan? maybe he wanted it to look like they were evolving when in fact it was god's hand forcing people to feed birds in order to fool people into thinking evilution is real? HUH!?! I sense the work of SATAN in all this

 

[nurizeko]

i bet he's probably looking at a car and thinking it's a moose.

The only solace I take from this is that when humans disappear their shitty little pet breed dogs will die out faster than Garry Glitter's fanbase.

 

[Azner]

BUT EVOLUTION IS JUST A THEORY!

Spoiler

Just kidding

 

[Seppo]

how do they know it's not part of god's master plan? maybe he wanted it to look like they were evolving when in fact it was god's hand forcing people to feed birds in order to fool people into thinking evilution is real? HUH!?! I sense the work of SATAN in all this

this is a typical tactic of the lord. he wants to deceive us because he doesn't want us to discover that he is true. we are essentially just a derelict ship drifting in a sea of wrong and only the divine touch of god is keeping us above the water. even if the world plummets into despair we always have a beacon of hope in the lord, shining bright and eventually leading us out of the night. and no if you sense the work of satan in something it means he definitely wasn't involved, because satan's tactic is identical to that of the lord. he also wants us to believe he doesn't exist.

 

[CptStern]

lord baby jesus works in mysterious ways. PRAISE BE JEBUS!!!

 

[Captain M4d]

You guys are a bunch of freaks. Don't you know who Will Wright is? C'mon...think about it..

 

[VirusType2]

Really cool observation they made. I emailed the link to my Mother, who is 'playing God' by always having bird feeders in the winter. Lol, she will find this interesting, I'm sure.

I figure, why intervene? Feeding wild animals only creates a dependency. And this is proof of it. Not that would argue not to do it, just that I wouldn't do it.