Does that make life in cities smarter animals?

Adapt or die – that's the basic principle of survival on Earth. In the course of natural selection many species and subspecies simply are unable to adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions and disappeared. Better than others the evolution process of Darwin illustrate convolvulus – land birds of the Galapagos Islands, studied for almost 150 years. Over the years, several generations of biologists have returned to Islands to describe the changing conditions of the environment and the evolution of finches. So, since the 1970-ies of XX century researchers came to the Galapagos Islands and catching finches, measuring the shape of their beaks. As a result, they managed to track the species of these birds for generations, and if you add up all the accumulated scientific data, it is possible to see detailed picture of the appearance of embryos of chickens. Unexpectedly, right? While using the protein BMP4, which plays a role in the evolution of the beak, in laboratory conditions it is possible to restore the original shape of the beak Bunkov. But if the beaks of Darwin's finches «aligned» under the surrounding changes, how modern cities affect animals?

Remember the famous monologue of agent Smith in the movie Matrix when he told Morpheus the reason for which wants to destroy the remaining humans? the According to agent Smith, people – akin to a virus or cancer, that enveloped the planet, destroying everything around him. Agree, in some ways he was right – the increase in population, growth of cities, expansion of agricultural lands, in which species go extinct – climate change forced the species to adapt. So, according to the results of scientific studies, details of which , humanity is threatened of extinction about a million species of living beings. However, this does not mean that all these animals will die.

The Growth and expansion of cities also affects the natural habitats of animals and to survive, they must adapt. But are there any examples where you can clearly see the evolutionary changes in animal behavior? As intelligence was probably very important and has allowed some animals to thrive in the man-modified areas. Take for example the elephants, which are easy to break electric fences and «RAM» the barbed wire to get where they need to. Or Japanese crows, which are known to drop nuts into the middle of the road that cars drove on them and split them. Scientists have found that this is best done near the traffic lights in time to catch the cracked nuts when the movement stops.

you see, the beak of finches is worthy of attention

On the other hand, some species could just evolve in such a way that it is likely to succeed in urban environments. These types of scholars are called “pre-adapted”. Pigeons are typical representatives of this species. Historically they probably nested on cliffs and skyscrapers like rocks, so it was not so difficult to move to the cities. However, pigeons are not the smartest birds in comparison with others. But at the same time, the pigeons pecking crumbs from the train station platforms and jump on the train when it arrives, and then jump out at the next station and continue the hunt for bread crumbs. This is a feature of life in the city – almost all at some point be dependent on public transport.

Pigeons and monuments – a headache and communal services of big cities

Cities – a new stage of evolution?

It's No secret that intelligence confers traits of animals such traits as courage, flexibility of behavior and attraction to everything new.

In the new study, whose results are not yet published, scientists describe how these attributes can help the animals to cope with specific problems in the cities and towns. Researchers from the University of Wyoming studying how raccoons in the city of Laramie react to the box of puzzles, deciding that you can earn the scrumptious reward. Containers on batteries are placed in suburban areas and put it in a reward – a piece of dog food – which the raccoon will get only in case, if you click on one of the two buttons inside the box. Once the raccoon learns that it is necessary to press the button to the left, the mechanism is inverted. And gradually the animal now understands that it is necessary to press the button on the right. Leaves, raccoons create a quick Association and is able to change your behavior. At the same time they do it better and better.

However, it is still not clear whether the urban environment over time, makes animals smarter than they would be otherwise. In the wild it is wiser to be careful, but boldness in the city can bring a reward. Perhaps we really create a more intelligent urban wildlife, according to the study authors. To prove that there are large differences in cognitive abilities between urbanand rural individuals of the same species is difficult. Similarly, as to prove that modern urban animals are smarter than their ancestors 100 years ago. You see, the million dollar question.

Classical painting – raccoon in search of Goodies

For Example, coyotes often raids the garbage cans like raccoons to hunt for food. In an article published last year, was traced throughout the United States – were, half of them urban, half rural. In General, urban coyotes were bolder and explored the environment more than their rural counterparts. The reason may be that in the wild, it is wiser to be careful, then, how courage can bring a reward in the city. In Russia, you have probably seen, as seagulls look for food at garbage dumps and urban landfills. But stray cats try to live close to people, for example, in the basements of houses, where there is more chance to find food and help man.

what do you think, does the urban environment animals smarter? Share your answer in the comments and with participants

However, not always cities and towns can challenge the nature. The urban environment in the evolutionary time scale has just been born. The plants and animals around us, apparently, are forced to adapt, but it is possible that after a very long period of time, the pressure for evolution is weakened. The reason is that people create a relatively predictable environment. Animals can increasingly focus on urban spaces and increasingly depend on smart strategies. Why learn to solve a complicated puzzle when you can, say, extract nutrients from sewer pipes? And not turn thus into an urban animal pests?

In recent years, raccoons have become very popular and people just have them as Pets