Squirrels and Evolution

[Hosnon]

I saw a squirrel in the middle of the road today and I wondered, "They still haven't learned?"

Thus my question: Will squirrels eventually evolve to avoid roads and/or cars? Assuming, of course, that the species' brain has "room" for a certain amount of intelligence without drastic changes to the rest of the animal.

It just seems to me that if a mutation occurs and one squirrel realizes what is going on, his or her gene will survive at a much higher rate...

Am I missing something? I am barely adequately aquainted with evolution so there is a distinct possibility.

Edit: Content.

[MonkeyFunk]

1. well

a very small percentage of the squirrel population gets killed by cars, so being good at dodging cars may not evolve as a desired trait. Also, we don't know if those squirrels killed by cars already reproduced.

But, say, if 95% of squirrels were killed by cars, and SOME squirrels had evolved to look both ways before crossing a road, it's quite possible.

[Hosnon]

3. Yeah I guess a large percentage of the species has to be killed by cars...I guess

I assume that it is due to the sheer number of casualties I see daily.

[HereSince1628]

9. I think that is pretty much right on...

[Kingshakabobo]

2. Maybe in a couple thousand years? Probably because they don't reproduce as fast as bacteria? nt

[Hosnon]

8. I guess this thread had something to do with my thought process:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1334404&mesg_id=1334404

Edit: Content.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. we are but a blip in the vast timeline of evolution...

It may not happen in your lifetime Grasshopper.


...wax on, wax off... wax on, wax off...


:evilgrin:

[Hosnon]

7. Well I'm getting sick of being made fun of for dodging the dang things.

Learn, damn it!

[slowry]

10. Whoever makes fun of you for that is an asshole! :| n/t

[Mythsaje]

5. They're not brilliant, that's for sure...

And evolution takes time. A LOT of time. You even see the occasional raccoon on the side of the road, and they're probably among the most adaptable and intelligent of the creatures that live among us that aren't part of our culture like cats and dogs.

Dogs and cats are certainly getting smarter. Coyotes and crows live on the fringes of our civilization and learn very quickly how to get around our insolent disregard. Rats and mice find ways to do the same.

Squirrels do not directly mingle with humanity all that much. It's not squirrels going through our garbage cans and prowling around us in search of discarded food.

The other day my Shiba Inu, who's pretty much an obsessive rodent hunter, was sleeping in the yard. My wife, sitting on the porch, watched a squirrel come over the fence, drop into the yard, and hop across the intervening space between the fence and my sleeping dog. It then spun around, slapping him with its tail, and rushed back to the fence and over. My dog lifted his head and stared at it.

I'm STILL wondering what the hell THAT was about.

[AmyDeLune]

15. Squirrel dares. ;-) n/t

[Lurking Dem]

22. LOL!

:toast:

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Not the case with squirrels in Britain

Look at the obstacle course they'll undertake to get to food ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8Wy793vwA&NR=1

And they do that in back gardens. They mingle with humanity a lot.

[rodeodance]

6. Bush does not learn----

[ThoughtCriminal]

11. Squirrels - Traffic

Voters - Republicans

Which one is more likely to cause extinction?

[eleny]

12. I think they spent more time figuring out how to break into bird feeders

:evilgrin:

[China_cat]

13. We never see squirrels on the road around here.

We do see them climbing poles and crossing the road on telephone wires, though.

[MsRedacted]

14. lol. I was in Lake Tahoe last month. A bear came out on to the opposing

traffic lane. The bear saw our car -- realized the danger he was in. Did an about face and high tailed it out of there.

So bears are learning.

And car vs bear -- well this was a HUGE bear. In a collision with a small car he might have even won. :-)

[mondo joe]

17. The squirrels that don't get hit are reproducing - the ones that did get hit are out of the gene

pool.

Evolution in action.

[rug]

18. The smart ones have already evolved into chipmunks.

[countingbluecars]

19. The same behavior

that protects them from natural predators gets them killed in the road.

[Pavulon]

20. Evolution is slow, technology is not

this is a sad truth for animals pushed to extinction by technology. Great apes, blue whales, sea turtles are all pressured by human technology.

The system can not correct fast enough. However that same technology can kill us just like the box turtle in the road.




"Now we are all sons of bitches." We can not evolve fast enough to use this technology.

[rucky]

21. If it weren't for roadkill...

hillbillies would have nothing to eat on Thanksgiving.