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How animals and plants are evolving in cities | Menno Schilthuizen

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. 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…

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Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

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.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here:

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85 Comments

85 Comments

  1. Miguel Siguenza

    September 14, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    This is not EVOLUTION, this is the ADAPTATION.

    • Ash

      September 14, 2020 at 6:49 pm

      Adaptation is an example of evolution at a smaller scale. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a new species being formed.
      Speciation is the creation of a new species. It is not equivalent to evolution. Although evolution is one of the causes of speciation.

    • Rizizum

      September 14, 2020 at 7:04 pm

      @Miguel Siguenza You do realize that species is a human construct, right? When does a living being stop being from one species and become another?

    • Bearly Listening

      September 14, 2020 at 7:44 pm

      @Rizizum When two organisms can no longer produce fertile offspring, they have become different species. If the groups of mice or snails live separately for long enough, they may eventually be unable to interbreed.

    • Rizizum

      September 14, 2020 at 7:51 pm

      @Bearly Listening It’s easy to say that when you have isolated groups, but what happens when you have only one group? Let’s say we have only one population of giraffes, the first generation has a neck 200 cm long on average, but as time goes the neck size goes down to 50 cm, going down 1 cm each generation on average, gen 1 can breed with gen 2, gen 2 can breed with gen 3, and so on all the way to gen 150, but if you were to take gen 1 and try to breed with someone at gen 100 or above it wouldn’t work, but if you breed someone from gen 50 with gen 150 it works, at which point did it become a new species or is it still the same species?

    • mk_uan

      September 14, 2020 at 10:14 pm

      @Rizizum This video exemplifies this very well (turn on the subtitles)

  2. Lingesh K

    September 14, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    Amongst them are we cultured animals as well?

  3. Salma TV

    September 14, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    #حملة_توصيل_جمعة_أخوات_للمليون

  4. Arthur Mathews

    September 14, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    +

  5. Dmitri BredD

    September 14, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    Вы заблокировали канал “TED на русском”, что противоречит вашим же принципам. TED, вы лицемеры. Отпишусь от вас пожалуй.

  6. bravojr

    September 14, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    Got a lota money, but not alota brains.
    Keep isolatin nature, keep assumin, nature will prove you wrong.

  7. Oleg Penkovsky

    September 14, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    Two obvious questions.
    One: How does he know the antbeatle evolved to move into the ant hill? Perhaps it did, or perhaps it was always there from the very first anthill. If this happened so long ago, how can he assume anything, and still call it credible science?
    Two: Why does he automatically believe Darwin’s “theary” of evolution?
    The Bible tells us that God sees everything that was, is, and will be. What about the possibility that God saw what humans would do with the world he created and then gave these plants, animals, and other creatures the “ability” to adapt when necessary!
    Why is evolution always science and not biblical?
    And who created science in the first place?

    • user name

      September 14, 2020 at 6:14 pm

      Why do you put any weight in old songs and stories of slaves and everyday people?

    • Ash

      September 14, 2020 at 6:53 pm

      No one automatically believes evolution. A vast majority of biological evidence supports it. The Bible is not regarded as a scientific document so it cannot be trusted when discussing science. Even religious scientists like Isaac Newton formed their Laws and Theories based on what they observed, not what was read in the Bible.
      No one “created” science. It’s the accumulation of human progress, discovery and philosophy put into a robust framework

  8. user name

    September 14, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    I wonder if some of the snails are racists lol fukin red shelled savages

  9. Nancy Reyna

    September 14, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Greedy souls why don’t you Respect borders and Indigenous cultures.

    • Arcux

      September 14, 2020 at 6:16 pm

      Which borders? As they are presently constituted, or some arbitrary point in the past? How long does a population have to occupy a land before it is considered indigenous?

  10. Stan Smith

    September 14, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Is evolution the reason we have people that cannot say “all lives matter”, because they are genetically handicapped.

  11. Asiri Madusanka

    September 14, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    So that means evolution can be manipulated.🤔

  12. Superman

    September 14, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    A beetle that has adapted to look and behave like an ant is still a beetle.

  13. 1 Sub?

    September 14, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    Fun fact : *The word “Long” is shorter than the word “Short”*

    • Cristobal Perez

      September 14, 2020 at 7:53 pm

      Fun fact: the word short “sounds” shorter and the word long. Say it out loud

    • Spirit Walker

      September 14, 2020 at 9:48 pm

      Wow!

  14. c Fsy

    September 14, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    I just read about urban heat island in my textbook. The timing!!

  15. Mohammad Arwani

    September 14, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    The question is: would that trapped mouse ever evolve to become other species as being promoted by the evolutionists? The answer is we don’t know.

  16. Alex Christin

    September 14, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    Once again its proved
    “LIFE FINDS A WAY.”

    • Verena Satriani

      September 14, 2020 at 11:18 pm

      Alex Christin Yes. It’s true. Happy day to you my friend☀️

  17. بنت الحشد

    September 14, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼🇰🇼💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚🖤🖤⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

  18. Ronald Harrison

    September 14, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    You mean ADAPTING, not evolving.

  19. SiD Jr

    September 14, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    ONE MONTH 10K SUBSCRIBERS CHALLENGE

  20. clearmenser

    September 14, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    Yay! Back to the original generations of TED talks, all education, no politics.

  21. DAG

    September 14, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    Again, Adaptions not evolution. The mouse is still a mouse just able to change its diet due to access, the snell is still a snell just able to change shell color due to temperature, and the pigeon is still a pigeon. These remarkable changes are fascinating, but only how they adapted to their environment not evolved into a different species. Very cool video.

  22. Verena Satriani

    September 14, 2020 at 11:19 pm

    Ted’s topic always inspirative and educative. I think that’s the reason why we are all here.

  23. Arcanist

    September 14, 2020 at 11:30 pm

    Racoons are also an easy example of this. They have completely different diets in cities and campgrounds vs in the wild

  24. Persassabeth

    September 15, 2020 at 1:06 am

    coming to listen in brakes between class!
    honestly thinking the time i spend on TED is more worth than the time i spend on online school)))

  25. Ngoc Nguyen

    September 15, 2020 at 1:24 am

    So does this adaptation affect the longevity of these city animals?

  26. Austin B

    September 15, 2020 at 1:56 am

    That’s not evolution that’s just adaptation lol

    • Austin B

      September 15, 2020 at 10:55 pm

      Polemos but they’re just adapting to eating different food

    • Polemos

      September 15, 2020 at 11:49 pm

      @Austin B
      Whatever changes genetically, IT is evolution

    • Austin B

      September 15, 2020 at 11:54 pm

      Polemos micro evolution isn’t even evolution it’s just change

    • Polemos

      September 16, 2020 at 12:07 am

      @Austin B
      Check out my first comment

  27. Humaid Nasser

    September 15, 2020 at 2:54 am

    barbie

  28. Eduardo Padilla

    September 15, 2020 at 2:56 am

    Excellent! This helped me to understand how animals are rehabitating what was for too much time being used by people.

  29. Kailash Chandra

    September 15, 2020 at 2:59 am

    Nature is d most powerful and divince force on earth

  30. ELProductions

    September 15, 2020 at 3:07 am

    Very interesting talk!

  31. KE8DZW

    September 15, 2020 at 3:23 am

    If this ” modern ” type of visible evolution is so prevalent, maybe that’s the way it has always been ? Humans are just another contributing factor, just like all other contributing factors have been for billions of years. Maybe quick adaption is the norm and we just haven’t noticed it until we actually started looking at it.

  32. J Attitude

    September 15, 2020 at 3:51 am

    Citizen science is the voluntary involvement of the public in scientific research. Citizen scientists can help design experiments, collect data, analyze results, and solve problems. Their work helps professional scientists and resource managers understand parks. Their data help solve real problems and answer real questions. In a nutshell, citizen science is science.

    Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: civitas) was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.. A male Roman citizen enjoyed a wide range of privileges and protections defined in detail by the Roman state. A citizen could, under certain exceptional circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship.

    Citizenship in the Early Republic. After the collapse of the old monarchy and the foundation of the Republic, the control of Roman government was restricted to a handful of great families – the patricians, a word derived from patres or ‘fathers’. The remaining residents/citizens were called plebians, representing the poor as well as many of the city’s wealthy.

    Source:
    Google search.

  33. Blast

    September 15, 2020 at 3:53 am

    all i saw were examples of adaptations, no evolution anywhere

  34. истории маинкрафт архив

    September 15, 2020 at 6:20 am

    why do you want to close the channel TED in Russian he also left links to your videos

  35. UNDERGROUND WHEREHOUSE

    September 15, 2020 at 6:31 am

    int that adaptation tho

  36. Szidaj-San

    September 15, 2020 at 7:47 am

    Very interesting, thank you for the video!

  37. munna's kitchen

    September 15, 2020 at 7:49 am

    So nice 😉😊😊

  38. tanuj9802

    September 15, 2020 at 8:40 am

    Who is here after finding out about Venus?

  39. drditup

    September 15, 2020 at 9:35 am

    this is so damn cool! also the reason i watch TED talks

  40. willy956

    September 15, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    TED is back on track! Lovely talk

  41. Ritik Verma

    September 15, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    indian bandar on tedx wow

  42. ROSHAN JOHN MATHEW

    September 15, 2020 at 2:23 pm

    Call it adaptation not evolution… when you look with evolutionary glasses all that you see may seem as the fairytale of evolution as it defines itself to be.

    • Polemos

      September 15, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      Genetic change in populations is the definition of evolution. So yeah, it is evolution.

  43. Forest Blue

    September 15, 2020 at 3:22 pm

    Why fake clapping at the end of the videos??

  44. Hotep Kennels

    September 15, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    Very interesting… but I’m not surprised. We have an effect on the environment.

  45. Seaside Wild Bird Rescue Tampa Bay

    September 15, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    Their numbers are falling rapidly but with our help some species of birds will be able to survive in our environment.

  46. Talita Sampaio

    September 16, 2020 at 12:12 am

    Evolution is really amazing!

  47. Muhammad HAMZA Warraich

    September 16, 2020 at 2:13 am

    Hello I’m from pakistan. l want to understand other cultures who agree to share his culture please contact me.

  48. gebbletook

    September 16, 2020 at 4:07 am

    some ethnic groups of humans do the same thing as that ant beetle.

  49. Xanna Bumblebee

    September 16, 2020 at 7:14 am

    God designed them to do what they were supposed to do. Darwin and another evolutionist can not agree on evolution because these bugs have ordered and are balanced in nature. You can not mix evolution and balance together

  50. Nii P.

    September 16, 2020 at 8:39 am

    What? Just simply study the growth even of one single generation of humans. We get taller and taller, and most of them get fatter as well, while fingers are getting thinner.

  51. Peaceful Music

    September 16, 2020 at 9:17 am

  52. 이상호

    September 16, 2020 at 10:43 am

    I start to see bugs differently after this talk

  53. MsFincci

    September 16, 2020 at 11:41 am

    Позор площадке, что блокирует переводы своих видео! Незнание = сила?! Позор!

  54. MsFincci

    September 16, 2020 at 11:45 am

    TED is blocking FREE translations of its videos! They don’t want to spread the word! Shame!

  55. Луиза Луиза

    September 16, 2020 at 12:12 pm

    This tallk is Interesting!

  56. Cyber Rock

    September 16, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    Uitkering beetle XD

  57. Big Sid Real Prison Talk

    September 16, 2020 at 1:45 pm

    I have the truth on my channel my videos are the truth

  58. Gui Welter

    September 16, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    Taylor: How many stamped bugs do you want in your shirt?

    Menno: Yes

  59. Seven

    September 16, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Good for long driving!

  60. Lucas Guimarães Pacheco

    September 16, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    kind of scary this kind of change as a result of humans activities on earth. I can’t see this as a beautiful thing as the scientist guy does. It’s amazing, astonishing that those species learn how to survive, but sad they need this because of us.

  61. Age of Peace

    September 16, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    Even the human body is still in a evolution process.

  62. ekszentrik

    September 16, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    It’d be best if we leave plants and animals enough room to prosper, but the second best thing is if they adapt to the changes we bring

  63. Palm L

    September 17, 2020 at 7:18 am

    I saw a dog took public transportation in bangkok 20 years ago. It took an open-air minibus for 1 stop. (It didn’t pay)

  64. Wijil Anindyajati

    September 17, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Love to know that positive thought about the difference between then and now. Strongly agree that people will always excited to learn in every situation.

  65. Joel Davis

    September 17, 2020 at 2:19 pm

    Is this evolution or adaption? If I live in the woods what’s that called

  66. Aves

    September 18, 2020 at 9:59 am

    Very interesting video! Indeed evolution can also be seen nowadays. Remember elephants and poachers; elephants are being born with smaller or even no tusks. And that is just because of poachers hunting for elephants with enormous tusks.

  67. Ferazhin Lexico

    September 18, 2020 at 11:43 am

    While culturally suicidal leftists are devolving as usual & burning down their own cities… in the middle of a pandemic… while their own mob is the largest transmission vector of the virus they fear so much…

  68. mangesh burange

    September 18, 2020 at 2:44 pm

    Summary:
    Adaptation can also be a short time process, ex- 🐌s now have lighter coloured shell to reflect light & keep them cooler, more example check out his book(he literally pitches his book)
    Thankyou
    No hard feelings ☮️

  69. Unmutual

    September 20, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Cities are a failed technology.

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