November 6, 2014 — Experts have long known that human activity can influence how local animals live, including their habitats, food sources, and even behavior. However, a new study has found that we can even impact how an animal procreates, changing the size and structure of specific fish species' genitalia in only a few decades.
The study, recently published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, details how the male genitalia of three different species of Bahamian mosquitofish (Gambusia) living in water heavily influenced by human activity have undergone a rapid and surprising change.
Stunningly, the highlighted changes are not mere mutations risen from chemical dumping or other taboo industrial activities. Instead, these appear to be natural changes, and the waters in question were simply split from larger habitats with the building of roads in a process called "fragmentation."
Fragmentation is not a new concept for researchers. Nature World News has previously reported on how fragmentation is leading to massive declines in New England cottontail populations. Similarly, the once proud mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains have degraded to inbreeding and patricide to survive, cut off from the rest of the world by the Southland freeways.
However, according to researchers from North Carolina State University, this latest fish study provides the first example of rapid physiological accompanying fragmentation.
Read the full story at Nature World News