NATURE . WILDLIFE

UNNATURAL SELECTION

52' (ENG, GER, SPA)

What has happened to evolution? The answer is very simple: us.

The wings of cliff swallows in Nebraska are getting shorter – while female turtles in Chesapeake Bay are getting larger. On the Galapagos Islands, two species of finches are developing back into one. Increasing numbers of peregrine falcons are living in urban areas – and have adapted their behaviour: thanks to the city lights, they have learned to hunt at night.

Life emerged three and a half billion years ago and since then has evolved into a dazzling variety of shapes and forms. But humans have transformed our planet beyond recognition – turning grasslands and forests into fields and cities, and polluting the air and water, thus changing the environment of many animals. All of these changes have altered the course of evolution – in some surprising and unexpected ways. The process known as natural selection has now taken on another, quite different dimension: ‘Unnatural Selection’.