Evolution in a Big City
Using newts, coyotes and mice, Jason Munshi-South shows how animals develop genetic differences in evolution, even within an urban city. "Evolution in a Big City" was animated by the TED-Ed...
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So I'm here today to encourage you to think about New York City, and not just as one of humanity's greatest achievements, but as home to native wildlife that are subject to a grand evolutionary experiment. So take this forested hillside in Northern Manhattan, for example. This is one of the last areas left in the city where there's clean spring water seeping out of the ground. You could drink this out of your hands and you'd be OK. These tiny little areas of seeping water contain huge populations of northern dusky salamanders. These guys were common in the city maybe 60 years ago, but now they're just stuck on this single hillside and a few places in Staten Island. Not only do they suffer the indignity of being stuck on this hillside,...
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So I'm here today to encourage you to think about New York City, and not just as one of humanity's greatest achievements, but as home to native wildlife that are subject to a grand evolutionary experiment. So take this forested hillside in Northern Manhattan, for example. This is one of the last areas left in the city where there's clean spring water seeping out of the ground. You could drink this out of your hands and you'd be OK. These tiny little areas of seeping water contain huge populations of northern dusky salamanders. These guys were common in the city maybe 60 years ago, but now they're just stuck on this single hillside and a few places in Staten Island. Not only do they suffer the indignity of being stuck on this hillside,...
