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+--- Thread: Research Why are the dogs of Chernobyl undergoing rapid evolution? (/thread-16930.html)
Why are the dogs of Chernobyl undergoing rapid evolution? - C C - Nov 30, 2024
www.iflscience.com/why-are-the-dogs-of-chernobyl-undergoing-rapid-evolution-77028
EXCERPTS: Evolution is generally considered to be quite a slow, clunky process. However, dogs living in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have undergone rapid evolution in the forty years since the disaster.
[...] At this point in time, it is unclear how exactly these genetic differences impact the health and characteristics of these hardy canines. However, they are not the only species to have seemingly evolved in the wake of the disaster. More recent research examining the genetics of wolves in the area suggests that they have developed protection against cancer. Another study found tree frogs living in the Exclusion Zone are much darker than those living outside. This particular adaptation may have reduced the negative impacts of radiation exposure by providing the darker-colored frogs with higher levels of melanin.
Why is this happening? While the study itself does not explain why it is that the dogs of Chernobyl are genetically different to their brothers and sisters living in other, less radioactive areas of the world, there are a number of ways radiation can impact populations of animals.
One possible reason explained in a 2020 study is that radiation can cause mutations, which contribute to genetic variation that is passed from parent to child. A further explanation is that those individuals unable to cope with the impact of exposure to radioactivity will die off, leaving a population better suited to their new surroundings. This has the opposite effect of reducing genetic variation.
[...] What is clear is that the genetic changes observed in the Chernobyl pups demonstrate the surprisingly swift evolutionary processes that can occur in populations affected by environmental change and there is much more to unpack... (MORE - missing details)
(older, last year) The Dogs of Chernobyl Are Experiencing Rapid Evolution ... https://youtu.be/2ltYLBF2Wk8