Yet another example of how life always finds a way no matter how bad we mess up this planet
Excerpt:
>Chernobyl has become one of the largest nature reserves in Europe. A diverse range of endangered species finds refuge there today, including bears, wolves, and lynxes.
>The results of our study suggest that Chernobyl frogs could have undergone a process of rapid evolution in response to radiation. In this scenario, those frogs with darker colouration at the time of the accident, which normally represent a minority in their populations, would have been favoured by the protective action of melanin.
>The dark frogs would have survived the radiation better and reproduced more successfully. More than ten generations of frogs have passed since the accident and a classic, although very fast, process of natural selection may explain why these dark frogs are now the dominant type for the species within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
>The study of the Chernobyl black frogs constitutes a first step to better understanding the protective role of melanin in environments affected by radioactive contamination. In addition, it opens the doors to promising applications in fields as diverse as nuclear waste management and space exploration.
>
>We hope the current war in Ukraine will end soon and the international scientific community will be able to return to study, together with our Ukrainian colleagues, the fascinating evolutionary and rewilding processes of Chernobyl ecosystems.
>*Germán Orizaola, Investigador Ramón y Cajal, Universidad de Oviedo and Pablo Burraco, Investigador postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva Incorporación, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC)*
Hmm, interesting! I don’t remember reading about this in the Bible anywhere though. /s
3 comments
Yet another example of how life always finds a way no matter how bad we mess up this planet
Excerpt:
>Chernobyl has become one of the largest nature reserves in Europe. A diverse range of endangered species finds refuge there today, including bears, wolves, and lynxes.
>The results of our study suggest that Chernobyl frogs could have undergone a process of rapid evolution in response to radiation. In this scenario, those frogs with darker colouration at the time of the accident, which normally represent a minority in their populations, would have been favoured by the protective action of melanin.
>The dark frogs would have survived the radiation better and reproduced more successfully. More than ten generations of frogs have passed since the accident and a classic, although very fast, process of natural selection may explain why these dark frogs are now the dominant type for the species within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
>The study of the Chernobyl black frogs constitutes a first step to better understanding the protective role of melanin in environments affected by radioactive contamination. In addition, it opens the doors to promising applications in fields as diverse as nuclear waste management and space exploration.
>
>We hope the current war in Ukraine will end soon and the international scientific community will be able to return to study, together with our Ukrainian colleagues, the fascinating evolutionary and rewilding processes of Chernobyl ecosystems.
>*Germán Orizaola, Investigador Ramón y Cajal, Universidad de Oviedo and Pablo Burraco, Investigador postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva Incorporación, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC)*
Hmm, interesting! I don’t remember reading about this in the Bible anywhere though. /s