Birds adapt to environmental change…and humans too

A friend points me to a fascinating article about how bird wings are changing as their habitats change. 

(The article can be found on a terrific new conservation/habitat research site, Conservation Maven - I've bookmarked it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in land/conservation issues.)

In short, the researcher found that in boreal forests, which have been greatly diminished by habitat loss, bird wings would become pointier, to further birds ability to fly, in an era of habitat loss. In temperate areas, where forests are in contrast recovering, he battle deforestation. In temperate areas, where forests are coming back, the researcher Andre Desrochers hypothesized that the birds' wings would become rounder, to help with take-off and landing in leafy areas. 

This was just what he found, in 11 out of 21 species. This tells us that evolution is not over. That's true for us too. In a story in the Wall Street Journal, Melinda Beck looks at recent human evolution, and finds many examples of how we have changed in the last 10,000 years…and the last 100 years.

Not all of the changes have been good. A researcher at Texas Tech has a great phrase for this: 

And some body parts that provided a benefit at some time in human history pose challenges today—a phenomenon Texas Tech University geneticist Lewis I. Held Jr. calls "bislagiatt," an acronym for "but it seemed like a good idea at the time." 

Among the examples Held cites are hanging testicles (useful for keeping sperm cool, but vulnerable to injury), a narrow pelvis (useful for walking, but dangerous for childbirth) and the appendix, which researchers now believe was once useful for fermenting bacteria to help humans digest, and is believed to be of no use now. .

Well, at least researchers now have a theory about that…for more, see the excellent story

Speaking of which, the WSJ now appears to be moving its science reporters to the llifestyle/"news you can use" beat. Well, it's better than pushing them out the door en masse, the usual evolutionary response.