I missed the lecturer here 11 am Thursday October 23 2025 Oakdale Room on 2, but this was online from the speaker’s website. (Speaker here: Jessica Tepas)
AI Overview
Animals have adapted to human impact through behavioral, dietary, and evolutionary changes, often by exploiting human-altered environments and resources. Examples include peregrine falcons nesting on skyscrapers, raccoons using problem-solving to access garbage, Eurasian blackcaps migrating to the UK for bird feeders, and tuskless elephants evolving in response to poaching.
Behavioral and dietary adaptations
- Using new urban structures: Some birds, like peregrine falcons, have adapted to cities by nesting on skyscrapers instead of cliffs. Many species use power lines and buildings to move around and forage.
- Changing activity patterns: Some animals, like brown bears and cougars, have become more nocturnal to avoid human activity, while also exploiting human food sources like garbage and farms.
- Altering migration routes: Some birds, like Eurasian blackcaps, have shifted their migration destinations to areas with more human-provided food sources, such as bird feeders in the UK.
- Exploiting new food sources: Many animals, from raccoons to white-footed mice, have learned to scavenge human food and trash, changing their diets and diets in urban areas.
- Learning new skills: Raccoons in cities have developed enhanced problem-solving skills to open human-made garbage cans, an ability their rural counterparts lack.
Evolutionary and structural adaptations
- Physical changes:
- Crested anoles: in Puerto Rico have evolved longer limbs for sprinting on concrete and larger toe pads for gripping smooth surfaces.
- Red foxes: in London have evolved smaller heads and different body shapes, possibly to adapt to their diet of human garbage.
- Female elephants: in Mozambique have evolved to be tuskless after two decades of intense poaching for their tusks.
- Male bighorn sheep: have evolved shorter horns in response to trophy hunting pressure.
- Genetic changes: The Peppered Moth is a classic example of rapid evolution, with its genetic makeup changing to a dark form to camouflage against soot-covered trees during the Industrial Revolution.
- Other adaptations:
- Some animals have adapted to heat tolerance in urban environments.
- Manatees have adapted to use the warm discharge pipes from coastal power plants as a source of heat.
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