▲ 115 ▼ Has the time since the invention of agriculture been long enough for any evolutionary changes to occur, and if so, what are some of those changes? (lemmy.dbzer0.com) submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world 36 comments fedilink hide all child comments Edit: I meant specifically humans.
[–] otter@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 years ago (1 child) Evolution can happen very quickly for species that go through their lifecycle quickly. Diseases and microorganisms evolve very quickly for example. Looking at agriculture specifically, domesticated animals and crops would have evolved in a particular way that's good for food production. If humans specifically, there are dietary changes (ex. for digestion). Were you looking for a specific type of animal? permalink fedilink source hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Mothra@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago Yes there has been enough time for changes to occur, but because we humans are so widespread and mix at a ridiculous rate, you are unlikely to see many obvious changes for a long time. People from a population with a certain amount of traits will mix up with people with different traits, and because the environmental pressures are not homogeneous or stressful enough, there isn't a dominant trend in evolution you could see today. Unless- and I'm not sure about these because I never checked if myth or fact- it is true that humans were shorter a few centuries ago? And what about the much debated IQ increase each generation? permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago Yes there has been enough time for changes to occur, but because we humans are so widespread and mix at a ridiculous rate, you are unlikely to see many obvious changes for a long time. People from a population with a certain amount of traits will mix up with people with different traits, and because the environmental pressures are not homogeneous or stressful enough, there isn't a dominant trend in evolution you could see today. Unless- and I'm not sure about these because I never checked if myth or fact- it is true that humans were shorter a few centuries ago? And what about the much debated IQ increase each generation? permalink fedilink source parent