Climate change is shrinking sheep
By Victoria Gill, Science reporter, BBC News, 2 July 2009 [here]
Climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink, according to research.
Scientists say milder winters help smaller sheep to survive, resulting in this “paradoxical decrease in size”.
Classic evolutionary theory would predict that wild sheep gradually get bigger, as the stronger, larger animals survive into adulthood and reproduce.
Reporting in Science journal, the team says this shows the “subtle interplay” between evolution and the environment.
Scientists first began studying Soay sheep, on the island of Hirta in the St Kilda archipelago, in 1985.
Since then, the sheep have decreased in size by 5% - their legs getting steadily shorter and their body weight decreasing.
This strange phenomenon was first reported in 2007, but the reason for it remained under debate. … [more]
Note: more comic relief. Sheep have evolved since 1985? Darwin’s pocket sheep? Due to “climate change”? Science Mag has descended into buffoonery.
by klem
by Tallac
Climate change is also responsible for shrinking human brains to the size of peas in a large portion of the population.
I think climate change is increasing the size of the planet, not shrinking the sheep. The sheep are actually still the same size.