London Underground mosquitoes sounds like an indie band

The dandelions in my front lawn have you evolved. They used to grow on long stems, which I mow down. Now the dandelions produce flowers that sit right close to the ground, lower than the blades of my lawn mower. If I stop mowing for a period of time, they still grow close to the ground and do not extend long stems up.

As Carlin once said "The planet is fine, it's us that might be screwed. The planet will be here long after we're gone." I tend to agree with him.

I seen a study a while back that said leopards are evolving at an extremely fast pace to the point where it can actually be witnessed by humans, they are gradually becoming aquatic hunters and even rivaling crocs in their habitats and slowly developing webbed feet, their saying its absolutely possible for it to evolve into something similar to vaporeon from pokemon within just a few centuries

I used to work in pest control. The speed with which insects evolved to become resistant to insecticides was legendary.

Hank Green, you left out rattle snakes with defective rattles. Before humans were killing rattle snakes with shotguns, the snakes with defective rattles were uncommon, but now that humans have shotguns to kill them, the silent snakes are more common. These silent rattle snakes do shake their tails, but without producing a telltale noise, and thus are causing more snakes bites....

So that might mean that it's likely that the "breed often, die young" species will become more dominant in the future, since they can adapt to those rapid ecological changes more quickly?

I have observed rapid evolution over the course of some 40 years. Two examples. A species of clam that lives near me in Florida in the mud used to be randomly bright pink, light pink or white. A parent could have all three in the hundreds every time they reproduce. So if you were out collecting their shells you would be likely to see all three colors in equal amounts. Shell crafters, people who make decorative objects from seashells often pick brightly colored shells to harvest as opposed to planer looking shells. Shell crafting has been going on since the sailor's valentine craze of the Victorian era but it has grown to a wider scale here in Florida so much so that some county's ban harvesting live shells altogether. So due to the popularity of brightly colored shells, the crafters would harvest only the pink ones leaving the white ones to survive to reproduce. In 1979, as I said, the color demographics were more or less even. Today, you will easily find the white ones but hardly ever will you find either of the pink shades. A similar thing happened with it's distant cousin, another clam but that one comes in a huge variety of colors ranging from all white to every color of the rainbow and often many colors at once. At least that was the case again 40 years ago but today, the demographics of that clam is roughly 80% white and 20% multi colored. And like the other species, any parent can reproduce any of the colors and in fact will have a thousand offspring at a time and every color of the rainbow will be represented in one mass of eggs but mostly today you see white ones. I predict that 2nd species of clam will be 96% White in 40 years and 99% white in 120 years and in a few more centuries, all color will be bred out of both species. There is also a species of sea snail that when first discovered was up to 18" long and quite heavy. The snail would simply keep reproducing throughout it's life and just get bigger and bigger. Due to harvesting preferences being for the largest display worthy specimens, you never see this species over a foot long any more. But also this species tended to reproduce only after it reached 10 inches in length. A malacologist once told me that they simply didn't reach sexual maturity until they were 10 inches long. Prior to that any offspring would be deformed or sickly. Recently I have observed specimens as small as six inches laying eggs and when I examined some under a microscope I found they were perfectly formed. I saw one in a museum once that was 22 1/2 inches long. It was accompanied by an egg case that was 2 1/2 inches thick. The egg cases I see today are half an inch thick. It's basically the same species but now I think we could call today's version a sub species, a sort of pigmy version of their ancestors. To my knowledge no specimen of that species over 14 inches long has been seen alive since the 1970's. All this said, they are actually a very common species. I could go out into the harbor near my house at low tide and there is a 75% chance I could fill a shopping bag with them in an hour. Smaller specimens have little commercial value but the foot long or nearly foot long specimens sell for about $50 in souvenir shops.

Plastic microbes can be scary if you think about how many pipes are made of plastic now

When Alaska is used as a unit of measurement for trash patch size

I've lived by a bridge loaded with their nests my entire life & I've never seen a single cliff swallow roadkill. it's near impossible to hit one with a vehicle even if you were trying to. The advancements of evolution came from the actual structures providing them with perfect bases to build their nest and thus thrive

I don't know what's worse, the creationist people arguing that adaptation is not evolution or the people that don't get that in this context "climate change" doesn't literally mean "when the climate changes"

Genuine question: if plastic-eating bacteria evolves and spreads, would it be possible for plastic objects we use today to get easily rotten? Will we have to put our plastic bottles in the fridge to prevent them from decomposing?

I used to live in London and since the cutbacks in air pollution in the 80's the pigeons have changed colour. They used to all be a slate grey colour to match the grey buildings but now they're a more brown colour to match the more modern and cleaner bricks.

The plastivore microbes discovery is pretty damn fascinating. Some types of worms digest plastics into degradable biomass!

Re. the cliff swallows with shorter wings being more manouvreable; that's exactly the reason that later versions of the Supermarine Spitfire had their wings 'clipped' in WWII - i.e., the wings had the outer tips removed. The clipped wings increased their rate of roll, enabling them to go from straight and level flight into sharp turns significantly faster, and it also improved their speed at low altitudes.

I believe spiders are evolving in cities too. They generally avoid the light. But they learned to construct their webs near the lamps on the street or outside a house, because moths and other insects are attracted to the city's lights. Moths in highly polluted areas are also grey-colored.

An interesting example of this is in the desert southwest of the USA. People tend to kill rattlesnakes when they run across them, and that usually means they are rattling with their threat display. Because the warier rattlesnakes are killed off with more frequently, we are selecting bolder snakes what will not rattle when they feel threatened, and simply strike instead. We're making rattlesnakes more dangerous.

The thing about sea microbes is interesting. About 10 years ago when I first started going to school for biology, I got into the DIY bio scene and was discussing possible avenues for research with one of my professors. I mentioned plastics in the ocean and the utility that a microbe that could eat them could have, and her response was, paraphrased "That probably isn't a productive avenue for research. Developing a novel trait like that isn't really something we can do very easily, but nature will probably deal with this particular problem on its own soon enough. Bacteria are always finding new metabolic pathways and I doubt they will take long to find a way to exploit this new carbon source that has suddenly shown up in such massive quantities." It's interesting to see her hypothesis panning out only a decade later.

Very interesting, thanks. However the Cliff Swallows story raises some questions for me.. longer wings will have higher metabolic costs to grow as well which would also make short wings a useful adaptation for survival. This isn't a contradiction to the idea that increased manouvreability might help cliff swallows escape from car accidents or catch insects better when they are in low availability but as with any evolutionary question there are a variety of factors that can be operating.

Recent studies of urbanized raccoons suggest that they maybe developing a new subspecies, adapted to strictly urban life.

Perfect place to mention Heikegani crabs. Japanese fishermen(crabers) noticed their shells resembled a warriors mask. Believing these critters were connected to the souls of Heike warriors who died in huge battle... they threw them back. As years (decades) passed, the more the carapace looked like the warrior mask, the more likely it was for that crab to survive and breed. By now the appearance is remarkable. Due to human interference. Relatively short time for that change.

I wonder if birds in cities or other noisy places have evolved for their calls to be heard amidst the din of the city by other birds over longer distances. I remember sitting at a traffic light once in a noisy city and being able to hear a robin call very loud above all the other noise.

A true crazy one is the Heike Crab. Fisherman threw the ones that looked like a face back into the ocean. They all look like faces now.

I didn’t think venomous snakes could get any more metal. :)

I heard that dandelions in urban areas are developing seeds that just fall to the ground rather than flying away, in order to make use of tiny, isolated patches of soil.

There's some kind of invasive species of gecko where I live in Florida. They used to all be light very light colored but now many of them have dark brown stripes on their back. Happened quick over only 20 years.

I always learn new things by watching this channel and this man. Well done.

Life, uhhh... finds a way.

Obviously, this is just one person's observation and my subjective interpretation of it, but when I started driving here in the UK in the 1970s it was really common to hit a rabbit on the road. They'd just run out in front of you, particularly at night. Folklore stated that they were attracted by the headlights. Now, forty five years later, this very rarely happens; you often see rabbits on the verge, but they almost never run out any more. It has occurred to me that rabbits with a behavioural tendency to run out into traffic may have gradually died out (by being hit by cars), leaving survivors that don't have this tendency. Of course, this would require behaviours as well as physical attributes to be passed on genetically, but it's just a thought.

Man those turn-headed sea snakes would make a great regional variant of Ekans. Ekans already has dark and light stripes normally, and it is a Poison type. So a solid black one that is Steel/Poison with the ability Shed Skin. I mean Game Freak already did the dead bleached coral ghost Cursola.

Hank, you’re fun to watch! Thank you!

It's truly crazy that a bird can evolve shorter wings to maneuver better for avoiding cars and feeding but a DAMN deer can't evolve better vision or hearing to get hit by cars!

That is happening right now in my house, a species of butterfly learned that its best for them to make cocoons under my roof to avoid rain, first it was one or two, now they are literally in every wall... I guess i got myself infinite pets...

Its definitely cool how rapidly a species can evolve, however i thought you might use the birds on the galapagos islands as a reference and how noticeably their beaks changed

If plastivores are really becoming a thing that exists, then I am ever more impressed by the planets ability to heal itself.

I'm surprised we didnt see soot moths on this list

“The not road-killed variety” that’s an interesting way to distinguish between specimens

12:30 Yes that type of rapid evolution you mentioned is quite common for bacteria and viruses unfortunately for us.

This is amazing! Who would have thunk that human activity would actually cause evaluationary change. But it makes a lot of sense considering the major impact we have on the environment.

Coyotes! Do one about coyotes! They've taken over America since wolves were driven out and there are so many of them they live in CITIES. They have coyotes in NYC!!!

Humans: *exists.* Animals: “Guess I’ll evolve.”

A great study done by Peter and Rosemary Grant was documented in the book "The Beak of the Finch" by Jonathan Weiner. The scientists followed the change of the finches beaks during a period of drought. The foods available to them were a selective pressure on beak size. People that don't believe evolution need to read more!

Randomly clicked on this video so I had something to watch while I eat and then I saw Hank Green. You have my attention

Getting darker has helped the turtle-headed sea snakes fend off heavy metals, but now they get pulled over a lot more.

Another rather famous example of this is the Peppered Moth also referred to as Darwin's moth. A Peppered Moth is typically white with small black and gray spots which help them camouflage against the pale bark of the trees they live on. Although there was a melanistic version, it was rather rare because it was more easily spotted by predators thus not surviving to pass on it's genes. During the industrial revolution the tree bark in cities was stained black from pollution. This caused the melanistic form of the moth to thrive in cities while the white form declined. That trend continued until the mid 20th century when clean air laws put an end to the pollution and within a few generations the melanistic moths began to decline and the white colored Pepper Moth returned.

Fascinating 😊thank you so much !

also want to point out the radiation ata chernobyl has led to some interesting adaptations as well.

How much longer till we start calling earth's animals pokemon? We literally have a steel type snake Like B r u h

The Turtle-Headed Sea Snake is the most accurate name I've ever heard.

Really interesting !!

As much as these are terrifying, they're quite interesting. I wonder how the animals on earth would look like in 50 years later.

All 62 episodes of breaking bad would be 2 days and 14 hours so to watch it all in 3 days is an achievement.

London underground mosquito: What up, mate? Normal mosquito: Nah, we are now genetically different so we aren’t able to mate. Sorry.

Great video thank you.

Oh Hank i love your channel but my adhd makes if very hard to keep up with ur speedy docs i wish u guys could do slower paced single subjects/species at a time

9:00 considering that microbes can go like “Yo bro! CHECK THIS MY DNA OUT! It let me get energy from plastic! Wanna try it?” I have a strong sense they evolved in 70 years

"They're fast. They're hard. They're cars." This line caught me off guard for some reason and I began to dissociate. I think internally I thought it was funny but because I've been in quarantine for almost 2 months, I no longer express normal reactions to emotional stimuli.

05:33 I would really appreciate the reference for this, I didn't find it in the video description. Thanks!

Hello ! In a city road in England the road was boarded with light coloured trees. Those trees were full of white butterflies. Then a factory opened its doors. The exhaust of this factory turned the trees dark brown. In the space of two years the butterflies turned dark brown. It is not a case of evolution but simply adaptation. Phil. Peace.

Another interesting rapid evolution example is the Australian cane toad. It was introduced as a natural predator for the cane beetle and has become one of the most destructive pest species in the country as has spread all the way from the East coast to Darwin in the North/West. This is a REALLY long way and involves travelling through a number of diverse environments. This has led to physical changed in the species. The cane toad populations that are found further West display features that would be beneficial in travelling the large distances required to reach a new habitat before it becomes saturated with members of their own species. They are significantly larger than the parent species and also have comparatively longer legs. Basically, this invading species has adapted traits that serve well for the vanguard simply reaching a new destination first and dominating the region before the smaller and shorter legged competitors arrive. Additionally, native species that live in areas which have become inhabited by cane toads have also evolved to accommodate their presence. The Australian Red-Bellied Black Snake has evolved a smaller head because those with large enough jaws to ingest a poisonous adult toad died very quickly after doing so. Also, several species of Australian bird have developed a preference for flipping toads onto their backs and eating the non-poisonous parts of the toad. While this was initially believe to be a learned behavior, birds that are raised in captivity and never see other birds doing this do now seem to instinctively go for the underside of toads when encountering them for the first time.

"They're fast, they're hard, they're cars" "Fishes? Well done👍" "Its bad enough when you're underground trying to not get exploded without getting covered by blood! Sucking! bugs!" Ah, dont ever change Hank ❤😭

Although you don't sound cool like how I remember Bill Nye when I was younger, you did a great job at keeping my interest and attention. Great job!

Very good job

Humans: we demand unlimited resources! We'll eat whatever we want! Nature: *raises middle finger*

"7 animals that evolved at hyperspeed" Me: oh that's cool :D "Because of us" Me: *sad human noises*

Please more!!

Very funny stuff - thank you

You forgot another very distinct evolutionary pathway for mosquitoes. Urban mosquitoes are very different from their “wild” counterpart (people who went into forests know what I’m talking about). Through selective breeding, we created a new species of mosquitoes. They are smaller, more agile and more careful. They come out only when it gets darker. once the light goes off, they try to remain still, preferably on a darker surface. Also, they come out to fly maximum 1-2 individuals at a time; Even though, there could be 10 more hiding in the shadows.

You know Carnivores, herbavores, and Omnivores... Now say hello to the Plastivores.

The Turtle-Headed Seasnakes sound like a killer punk metal band. ...appropriately.

this is an amazing vid

I remember hearing about white moths who survived on white trees dying off and being replaced by black moths once those white trees were covered with soot during the industrial revolution. Now that’s quick evolution!

All I’m thinking about is future rabbits evolving the ability to matrix out the way of my car.

I did 20 years in the Air Force, and my four trips to the "sandbox " anytime we had a small spill of fuel on the ground we would clean it up as best we could and then spray a bioactive petroleum product on the spot. It was a living bacteria that would break down (eat) any residual fuel. Also we had a negative experience with a bacteria that would colonize inside our immense fuel bags and consume fuel and their poo would clog up our filter. Because of it's consistency we called it apple-butter.

very informative

HANK, I have an excellent candidate for a follow up to this: the Hawaiian rock wallaby. This species evolved from a single, sibling pair of Aussie rock wallabies, who escaped captivity in the 1940s, due to a tropical storm. Since their original habitat was so severe, and their dietary needs so extreme, it was at first assumed they'd have died off quickly. Nope. This sibling pair had lots of babies, who mated with each other, etc., until they were discovered in the 1990s, with differences in size, colour, diet, and most importantly, genital arrangement and chromosome structure, making them unable to mate with the species they came from. Unlike feral pigs, which destroyed many natural habitats, these wallabies ended up fitting in, and even help disperse seeds of various of their new food sources via their feces. As for this video, I love it. I have often wondered if animals were evolving to adapt to cars existing, especially every spring, when animals end up dead all over our roads. I hate that it takes the slower, dumber ones dying to help their species evolve.

I travel a lot by road here in Australia. Kangaroos seem to be particularly prone to road traffic. They are active generally from dusk to dawn and tend not to move away from approaching cars or trucks - they are likely to stare stupidly into the headlights until it's too late. I've often wondered if there is a measurable change in behaviour for kangaroo populations now compared to, say, the 1950's when road traffic started to really ramp up. With a kangaroo "generation" being around 6-8 years, that's about 10 generations since the 50's. You would think that evolution would favour more road wary individuals. My experience suggests not - there are still a LOT of kangaroos being naturally de-selected... But I'd be interested to learn if anyone has formally studied this.

would really like a video on how they're digesting plastics and what nutritional value plastic has for them.

This is exactly the video I was looking for, thanks for making this 4 years ago. Have more been discovered to have evolved rapidly? Part 2 😉

Salmon, Herring and Cod are HEAVILY commercially fished compared to any "sport" fishing.

I thought for sure you were going to mention rattlesnakes who evolved to not have a rattle due to human hearing-based hunting in Texas. These snakes survive humans, and cannot warn large animals to their presence to protect themselves. It’s wild!

Fascinating and well-done; kudos. And one more argument to add to our arsenal when dealing with the intellectually challenged; thank you. There is a finch (or similar) in England that would go south to Africa for the winter but many stuck around to take advantage of the many bird feeders, as the English are wont to do. Those birds quickly developed significantly shorter beaks. Happened within just a few decades in the period after WWII.

5th on the list OCEAN MICROBES deserves its own video and much more recognition.

Darwin: Evolution happens gradually over millions of years! Evolution: I do whatever I want shut up old man

I'm surprised you didn't mention peppered-moths; they're usually the go-to in discussions of rapid evolution and anthropogenic evolution.

Interesting video!

That breaking bad reference felt personal because it only took me 5 days to binge it

Another one is the cane toad. Introduced in Australia it keeps spreading across the country. The toads long legs that walk the furthest mate with other toads with long legs and so they get longer legs the further they spread across the country.

If the snakes can shed off the metal accumulation, we could research in breeding the high-melanin aquatic snakes that withstand high metal concentrations, then process the shed skin to have metal recovery or refining.

them : plastic eating bacteria humans with plastic surgery : save me

I feel like a kid again watching vids like these

Fun Fact: When the existence of high speed evolution was first proposed, the old guard labelled this heretical idea "Evolution by Jerks". The adherents of the new idea countered by labeling the status quo "Evolution by Creeps".

Hank's sarcastic YAY at evolutionary rescue of mosquitoes was something I think we could all relate to. 😂

I never knew evolution could be so fast.

great channel

Interesting aspects to think about, the possibility is there: Swallows living under overpasses could have slightly stunted growth due to the reduced air quality of their new home. With the larger fish being harvested, it's the smaller fish that are passing on their genes, thus promoting that evolutionary change like a form of selective breeding. Tuskless elephants, re-enforcing the unintended selective breeding as with the fish.

I remember reading in my biology text in High School, back in the 70s, about a species of of moth in England that was various shades of gray; specimens collected at the beginning of the 1800s, when compared to specimens collected at the beginning of the 1900s, showed a noticeable difference - the earlier ones had a noticeably greater amount of lighter gray as compared to the latter ones, which were noticeably darker. The naturalists noticed that the moths, which spent significant time perching on tree-trunks, were harder to see on the trunks, as the tree-trunks were, in many areas, darker due to soot from large numbers of nearby furnaces. This made it harder for birds that preyed on them, to spot them. So the species had originally been a lighter gray, as that made it harder to spotted by the predacious birds, but selective pressure had previously mitigated against the darker ones, as standing out on the lighter (earlier) tree-barks.

"Evolution is what's left over" - Grandmother, table talk, 1941.

7:08 I love how he say "Melanin" 😂