Man made evolution and its effects back on Humans

The raging fires in Indonesia has caused the destruction many flora and fauna in the affected regions. Those whom can escape have done so by flying away or scurrying off away from the hotspots.

Particular species of apes, such as the Orang Utans, have been seen congregating near urbanised areas, as they have lost their forest homes. The younglings of the species have even ventured into human homes, foraging for food and have caused quite a few raised eyebrows.

In recent weeks, the behaviour of these "migratory" apes seem to be almost similar to those of the homeless humans. The apes could have seen how the homeless construct their own makeshift shelters using discarded garbage and the apes are copying the actions, learning how to shelter themselves from rain and shine, in absence of their natural rainforest canopies.

As observed by a member of the voluntary forces, SSG Amin Wadaseh, "They (the orang utans) are constantly gathering in groups at the edge of the urban areas, peering and observing us in the night, and in the morning, we'd realise some of our food supplies are mysteriously gone".

Wildlife Conservationist Action (WCA)'s Animal Behavioural Specialist shared with our agency, "It is normal for animals whom have lost their habitat and foraging territory, to enter into uncharted territories of predators, and risk life and limb for satisfying their own hunger. And in this case, they are venturing into urban areas, with lots of food that are easily accessible."

"However, human food may not be the best solution as it is laced with many unnatural ingredients and the long term impact on these animals consuming human food could not be predicted.", says WCA's Isaiah Ubirevar.

We may be forcing their accelerated evolution unknowingly.
And like it or not, at the rate we are destroying their habitat, we are bound to share our urban habitat with them at a certain tipping point.


Source : Evolution Today

Portrait of your distant twin!

The blending of DNA of humans occur in such a complex permutation via each and every generation.
However, as with statistics, it is possible that a complete match of DNA can be found somewhere in the world that is exactly identical with each other and without any similarity in parentage.

Wikipedia's Entry on Population Genetics

Mass Suicide of 877 Dolphins

A mass of dolphin carcasses greeted Peru on her northern coast on 6th April 2012.
The body count was 877.
[Article and Image Source : Boing Boing ]

877 Beached Dolphins Carcasses in Peru

No more wild tigers in China because the last one was eaten..

Yes, you guessed it right..

Eaten by a Chinese.

There was this saying I heard sometime ago..

"If it has legs and it's not a chair
and
if it can fly and it's not a plane,
the Chinese will probably eat it.."

Thanks to these folks, China no longer has any wild Indochinese tigers, whom are already on the brink of extinction.

On the Edge of it

Breaking news on 2nd March 2009

About 150 whales beach themselves on the beaches on Australia.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/305052.asp

Though the news may not be significant for most, this is not the only incident that happened this calendar year.

Another happened also in Tasmania
Of the 50 sperm whales that beached, only 1 survived.
http://www.physorg.com/news152013421.html


And in late 2008, another 53 pilot whales died after beaching again in Tasmania.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7744454.stm

While the similar location raises some doubt as the Oceania region accounts for more than 80% of whale beaching incidents, another more serious question comes into mind.

Most of the whale beaching reported by the media only serves to inform and not much scientific reasoning can be derived from these incidents.

Maybe someone from the same region has already given some light of such happenings as early as 1859. Charles Darwin published his theory "On the Origin of Species" which explains the process of evolution by natural selection. In short, his theory is based on the belief that in the natural world, the strongest will survive. Derivatives of his theory also mentioned that to evolve is also to adapt and that the species that is able to adapt will so continue to exist in the natural world.

Backtrack to the beaching whales to dissect their suicidal behaviour.
Whales are fairly docile creatures that do not have aggressive nature.They are also constantly migrating from colder to warmer waters for breeding and feeding purposes. Studies have shown that their sense of direction for guiding them back to where they were born may be due to the fact that they are able to navigate by the Earth's magnetic field.

As much as some will argue the fact that it is because of the number of ships which transmit radio frequency signals to and fro and the increased number of submarines which have sonar systems that disrupt the whales' sense of direction, it should also be noted that the earliest whale beaching incident recorded was as early as 1598. It was a painting by the way.

It then cannot be said that it is due to modern communications equipment which caused the whales to lose their sense of direction and beach themselves.

So from 1598 to the current day, the only fact known is that the number of whales beached increased at an exponential rate. What can also be said is that us,humans, are also polluting the environment at an almost similar exponential rate.

Looking from an evolution point of view, could it be possible that these whales are trying to adapt? And if they are unable to adapt to the polluted habitat, are they trying to change their habitat by migrating to another different one?

Perhaps, it is a desperate physical attempt at trying to evolve to be able to leave their natural underwater habitat and move on to a less polluted on-land habitat so as to ensure their species' continual existence.

There has been some recent findings on prehistoric whale fossils which showed that some prehistoric whale species gave birth to their young on land.
http://www.physorg.com/news152952023.html

Most if not all would have read at some point in their lives that most land animals, including the human species evolved from underwater creatures leaving their habitat to live on land for their continual existence.

Are we closer to the edge of evolution as we speak?
If so, will we in the distant future be still the smarter species?
Or will we be the species of lesser intellect and preyed upon by other species?




Today is 4th March 2009
Time now is 00:35 hrs

"Today the human species is the only one with the self-knowledge and the capacity to protect its own future."

Al Gore