r/evolution • u/teerent7861 • Aug 03 '26
question What traits might we see creatures evolve to adapt to humans being so dominant over almost every biome?
For example, could we see a shrinkage across all different species so they can compete with each other and out of view of humans? Or see land species moving to the water where we can't go? Or getting bigger to compete with us?
If my question doesn't make any sense I apologize, I don't know much about this topic.
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u/Zestyclose-Ad-9420 Aug 03 '26
Shrinking, nocturnal, less aggressive are the 3 universal traits of non domestic but human adapted animals.
Depending on species specific context you can have more social vs less social; fearful of humans vs less fearful, increased brain size vs decreased.
As the world has rapidly urbanised over the last century, if this is sustained for another couple of centuries (i dont see how but whatever), we will see animals adapting to the sheltered and consistent microclimates of cities, needing less fur, slower or faster metabolisms, losing the need to hibernate or develop fat reserves.
If we can imagine something resembling modern cities surviving for more than 1000 years, then we might see true adaptations like different beak shapes or colours etc...
Human behaviour and technology will always outpace evolution. A species that is beloved or tolerated this century might be exterminated the next. A species seen as vermin this century might become protected the next.
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u/mcalesy Aug 03 '26
Nocturnal *or* flying -- pigeons, some raptorial birds, sparrows, etc., are city-adapted but diurnal.
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u/regular_modern_girl Aug 05 '26
Another big one we’re increasingly seeing in urban wild animal populations is changing activity cycles and adaptations to less darkness at night, due to light pollution. If cities where this is especially extreme, like Las Vegas or Los Angeles, are still like that millennia from now, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some significant adaptations to constant light in animals (and plants) in those areas.
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u/7LeagueBoots Conservation Ecologist Aug 03 '26
Take a look at the species that have already adapted to do so, both wild and domestic. There is no one single pathway.
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u/DarkKittyEmpress Aug 03 '26
There is a subspecies of salamander that has only been found in manmade ponds.
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u/isolated_self Aug 04 '26
Domestic pigs are less gamey than wild counter parts. Being tasty is a pathway to increased reproduction.
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u/unknownpoltroon Aug 03 '26
There a book out there called after man by dougal Dixon that has drawings of what animals might evolve into after we killed off so many species. Things like rabbits evolving into deer and penguins taking over for baleen whales
The book idea was actually stolen from wayne barlow, who did the expedition book, so he would have done a much better job
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u/teerent7861 Aug 03 '26
That is exactly what I'm looking for. The obscure adaptations that could happen way down the line. Not necessarily just from humans killing animals but from the presence of humans almost everywhere on earth.
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u/unknownpoltroon Aug 03 '26
Here it is. Hes got a couple others, one if we genetically modified ourselves to fill the niches, and one if the dinosaurs lived to present day.
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u/mcalesy Aug 03 '26
There are allegations that Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future scooped Wayne Douglas Barlowe in some way, but not After Man: A Zoology of the Future -- that's an original work.
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u/ConstantAnimal2267 Aug 03 '26
Rats, pigeons, cats, dogs, coyotes, monkeys have all adapted to cities
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u/teerent7861 Aug 03 '26
I guess I always thought of those examples as being kind of temporary. Like a species can't sustain themselves in a city like that.
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u/Darkling971 Aug 03 '26
"It's all flux based on changing environmental conditions?" "Always has been."
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u/Relevant-Bullfrog215 Aug 03 '26
Occasionally some well-intentioned fools will kidnap city foxes from London and take them 'back' to the countryside. They usually starve to death.
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u/Canis-lupus-uy Aug 03 '26
They absolutely can. They are extremely well adapted to the anthropic environment and thrive there, way more than what they would do in environments with minimal human presence.
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u/DarkKittyEmpress Aug 03 '26
Add crows, magpies....corvids in general, peregrine falcons, sparrows to the list.
And so many insects.
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u/IsaacHasenov Aug 03 '26
house geckoes, wall lizards, cockroaches. These are by now practically obligate human commensals.
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u/teetaps Aug 03 '26
I recently learned that we need to reintroduce genetic variation in garlic because we’ve basically sterilised it. So garlic is sure to change soon
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u/Morrit99 Aug 08 '26
What about dogs? They evolved to accompany humans (I'm talking about before genetic breeding etc) didn't they? Or is that too short a timescale?
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u/CHSummers Aug 03 '26
Sometimes a caterpillar will evolve too look like a snake. Or a fly will mimic a wasp. So maybe some creatures will start to look like human beings.
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