The Feral Dogs of Chernobyl Are Experiencing Rapid Evolution, Study Suggests Have the canines acquired strange mutations living near the power plant?

popular mechanics magazine ^ | Published: Nov 27, 2024 9:53 AM EST | By Darren Orf

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Not evolution, but adaption?

They are, after all, still dogs.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

And what a worthless article - says absolutely nothing of any significance.

[ComputerGuy]

I don’t know, Jake, but that ain’t no Chihuahua!

[DPMD]

Or did the dogs of “The View” visit there?

[dennisw]

https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-living-in-the-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-are-genetically-distinct-study-shows

Comparative analyses showed the Chernobyl dogs are also genetically distinct from free-breeding dogs in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

There have, however, been some influxes of genetic material from modern dogs such as mastiffs into some Chernobyl populations. This may be because residents and their pets have begun moving back into Chernobyl City, the researchers suspect.

What will be interesting for future studies is that the three Chernobyl dog populations have been exposed to varying levels of radiation.

The next step, the researchers say, will be designing broader studies “aimed at finding critical genetic variants that have accumulated for more than 30 years in this hostile, contaminated environment.”

If the studies conducted so far on the wildlife of Chernobyl are anything to go by – and based on what we know about how environmental exposures can be inherited as molecular etchings on an organism’s genome – scientists will be hard-pressed to tease out clear findings that resolve their debates once and for all.

The research has been published in Science Advances.

[alternatives?]

Outdoorsmen are suddenly disappearing. Picture 15 foot tall pit bulls that have developed a taste for human flesh.

[ansel12]

According to the movie “A Boy and His Dog” part of the adaptation is telepathy with a human and the ability to locate human females.

[dennisw]

Don Johnson and Melanie whatever...

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I'll start getting worried when Cerberus starts wandering around Chernobyl.

[ClearCase_guy]

Beat me to it. This stuff is really only interesting if a particular species becomes a different species. And although the experts have confidence that this has occurred many times, no one has ever actually seen it. Dogs stay dogs. Fruit flies stay fruit flies.

[lee martell]

Well? What are the ‘strange mutations’ of the dogs.
I was hoping to see photos of them, or at very least, read a detailed description.

Are we talking three headed dogs, as with Greek mythology?
Cerberus was the three headed dog who guarded the gates of Hades.
Maybe the second half of the article is missing.

[Carry_Okie]

And lo and behold, the article doesn't list the differences they think they see. Looks like "anti nuke" grant hustling. The Rockefeller, Pew, and W. Alton Jones Foundations* should be good for that.

* (Exxon/Mobil, SUNOCO, and Citgo, respectively)

[Ezekiel]

If the studies conducted so far on the wildlife of Chernobyl are anything to go by – and based on what we know about how environmental exposures can be inherited as molecular etchings on an organism’s genome –

-- life.. finds a way.

[Cold Heart]

I was going to say something similar.

Popular Mechanics should remember to include “Climate Change” in their articles to make them more interesting.

[old school]

Quite right!

[fidelis]

Beat me to it. This stuff is really only interesting if a particular species becomes a different species. And although the experts have confidence that this has occurred many times, no one has ever actually seen it. Dogs stay dogs. Fruit flies stay fruit flies.

That's right. That's why they're always desperately searching for some "missing link" and have yet to find one.

[Ikeon]

They've mutated. That's all im saying?

so can they fly? Are they huge? Do they have 6" fangs with venom? Can they leap 50'??? Climb trees?

DO THEY HAVE A TASTE FOR HUMAN FLESH!! WTF? SAY SOMETHING!!

[Red Badger]

[Empire_of_Liberty]

It has this:

“… for example, is now a well-worn method for developing crops well-suited for a warming world.”

A well-worn method for regurgitating unsubstantiated crap.