Design
Animals May Evolve Bigger Brains to Handle City Life
A new study illustrates how species adapt when humans alter the environment.
As humans change the environment, various species are forced to adapt or perish. Some cliff swallows learn to avoid swift highway traffic. Some Atlantic tomcod find ways to resist river pollution. A few members of Congress even recognize the need to address climate change. Survival of the fittest, indeed.
Fewer changes to the environment have been as extreme as the shift to cities, but since that process occurred so long ago in developed countries, the response by various animals is hard to measure. Well, an imaginative new study helps clarify that question. Turns out animals did adapt to the human push for cities: with bigger brains.