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Homo Urbanis
How will humans evolve to survive life in the Big City?
Sometimes you’re just lazily scrolling the interwebs and you suddenly come across something that makes you stop and think, “That can’t be good.”
Like this article about how forest lizards are evolving with lightning speed in order to survive in the city.
I mean, I guess it makes sense. If a lizard can regrow not only its tail and legs, but also “… the lower jaw… large parts of its brain, parts of the heart, and other internal organs such as the pancreas and the kidney,” (from Journal How — holy crap), then we’re talking about animals that are capable of adapting in real time to massive changes in their environment.
Of course, the lizards that are the subject of the AP article have a very short lifespan, allowing for more rapid genomic turnover.
But eventually, us slowpoke humans are going to catch up, if we can just manage not to destroy the planet first. (Magic 8 Ball says: Don’t count on it.)
Some humans have already grown an extra head bone, or external occipital protuberance (wtf) because of smartphone usage.
It’s enough to give you EOPE — External Occipital Protuberance Envy.
