I have thumbs...how 'bout you?

Human actions are increasing the rate of evolutionary change in plants and animals in ways that may hurt their long-term prospects for survival, scientists are reporting.

Hunting, commercial fishing and some conservation regulations, like minimum size limits on fish, may all work against species health.

The idea that target species evolve in response to predation is not new. For example, researchers reported several years ago that after decades of heavy fishing, Atlantic cod had evolved to reproduce at younger ages and smaller sizes.

We’re only in January, but this research report may very well qualify as “Inanity of the Year.”

Take a moment and think about this for a second…and do so with the considerable fact that MAN IS AN ANIMAL THAT IS PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM. Sure, fishing in bulk causes changes in the habitat since animals instinctively will try to survive. Why do regions of the world dictate the amount of melanin in a man’s skin? Evolution, adaption, adjustment and overcoming adversity.

Man adapts…evolves (at least physically). Fish adapt…evolve. Bacteria adapts…evolves (thanks to the abuse of antibiotics).

The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution. Any population of organisms, bacteria included, naturally includes variants with unusual traits--in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic's attack on a microbe. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenseless bacteria, leaving behind--or "selecting," in biological terms--those that can resist it. These renegade bacteria then multiply, increasing their numbers a millionfold in a day, becoming the predominant microorganism.

My problem with this article, besides the fact that the conclusion is patently obvious…is that the by-line calls this “harmful.”

Here it is: "Research ties human acts to harmful rates of species evolution"

No…it’s just life and death. This has been happening before man graced the big blue marble. It will happen after our demise. Man is the top of the food chain. We are the predator. Each deer we kill for food leaves one less deer which means there is one less mammal stripping away the lower branches of the wild cherry trees…which allows the tree better health and makes it less susceptible to insect manifestation…and woodpecker habitat.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction…(Thanks Albert).

The only real attribute to this entire study is that there is an obvious observation of evolution in action due to the magnitude of the change in the habitat. While this effects some species negatively…it, ultimately, effects other species to the positive (which the author and the researcher have failed to mention).

Every animated being evolves. Every animated being will continue to do so. It will occur at different rates due to the varying factors around them. How do you think you got your thumbs?


UPDATE:

Hey...LOOK!!!

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Eradicating the cat population on Macquarie, a remote island between Australia and Antarctica, has damaged the local environment, allowing rabbits to rapidly reproduce in their absence.

Hey...LOOK AGAIN!!!!

Rabbits, first brought to Macquarie in 1878, became the main prey of feral cats that arrived earlier. The rabbit population reached 130,000 in 1978, then fell to 20,000 as the result of a viral disease introduced to reduce their numbers. The cats lost their main source of food, resorting to eating native burrowing birds, and were then eradicated from the island in 2000.