Ideas worth spreading

How animals and plants are evolving in cities

2,000,323 views |

Menno Schilthuizen |

TEDxRoma

• May 2019

In cities, evolution occurs constantly, as countless plants, animals and insects adapt to human-made habitats in spectacular ways. Evolutionary biologist Menno Schilthuizen calls on peculiar beings such as fast food-loving mice and self-cooling snails to illustrate the ever-transforming wonders of urban wildlife -- and explains how you can observe this phenomenon in real-time, thanks to a global network of enthusiastic citizen scientists.

In cities, evolution occurs constantly, as countless plants, animals and insects adapt to human-made habitats in spectacular ways. Evolutionary biologist Menno Schilthuizen calls on peculiar beings such as fast food-loving mice and self-cooling snails to illustrate the ever-transforming wonders of urban wildlife -- and explains how you can observe this phenomenon in real-time, thanks to a global network of enthusiastic citizen scientists.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxRoma, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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Join the growing community of citizen scientists who contribute to urban biodiversity mapping.

About the speaker

Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen

Evolutionary biologist

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Menno Schilthuizen studies the animals and plants in cities and how they adapt to their new urban habitat.

Jonathan Weiner | Vintage, 1995 | Book

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

Although this book is already more than 25 years old, it tells the story of rapid evolution (but in natural, not urban settings) in a compelling and gripping way. By following the careers of the famous biologist couple Rosemary and Peter Grant, the book shows us how field research is done (in this case, on the amazing Darwin's finches of the Galápagos), and how stunned the scientific world was to see that evolution can be observed, measured and predicted.

Wildlife Conservation Society, 2010-2013 | Explore

Life in the City -- Evolution in an Urbanizing World

This website allows you to explore how a wilderness, the island Mannahatta, was transformed into urban Manhattan. There is a Google Earth-like interface that allows you to see how Manhattan looked and felt four centuries ago, before it was settled by Europeans and then let today's streets be superimposed on this natural landscape. You can select a block of the city and ask the website to generate a list of flora and fauna that must have lived there when, in 1609, Henry Hudson first set eyes on it, and scribbled in his log, "as pleasant a land as one can tread upon."

The Junco Project, 2016 | Watch

"Ordinary Extraordinary Junco"

A series of videos, which together make up a feature-lentgh movie about the dark-eyed junco, a bird that has become the poster child for urban evolution. The story follows the lives of juncos in urban environments and the biologists who do field work among the joggers and traffic to understand how these birds are coping with the trials but also the blessings of a city-slicker lifestyle.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxRoma, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Join the growing community of citizen scientists who contribute to urban biodiversity mapping.