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Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Rodents of Chicago Are Evolving in Real Time, Scientists Say
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Urbanization has had visible morphological effects on chipmunks and voles in the Chicago metro area. While both chipmunks and voles have experienced changes to their skulls in response to urban navigation and hearing needs, chipmunks have also grown larger because of the availability of human food scraps (especially high-calorie processed foods). Watching the changes in animals that have adapted to city environments could help us gauge how much urban sprawl has impacted these populations. As Pizza Rat proved, some creatures can adapt to just about anything, even the concrete jungle. And it isn't just New York City—Chicago rodents have become so used to city life that they have actually evolved for urbanization. Anyone who lives in Chicago might think nothing of a chipmunk scurrying by, but all the scraps of processed food that the local chipmunks have pilfered from human garbage cans have both made them larger than they used to be and shrunk their teeth. And as a result of all the horns honking, brakes screeching, and everything else that turns up the volume of a bustling city, voles have developed smaller inner ears to turn down the noise. Humans have obviously had a profound impact on the environment. By studying chipmunk and vole specimens hidden away in the backroom drawers of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, a research team—lead by assistant curator of mammals Anderson Feijó, along with mammalogist and XCT lab manager Stephanie Smith—found that there have been morphological changes to the skulls of these animals over the last 125 years. The changes have corresponded with the growth and industrialization of the Chicago metro area. 'These different patterns between chipmunks and voles reveal species-specific responses to the same human-induced habitat changes and the need for nuanced conservation plans in the face of continuing change,' Smith and Feijó said in a study recently published in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology. Skulls were the focus of this research because they reflect the effects of habitat and ecology on the animals' diets, sensory systems, navigational abilities, cognitive abilities, and body sizes. Voles and chipmunks were chosen because their biologies and proximity to humans were thought to be different enough from each other to show distinct responses to urban stressors. Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are squirrel relatives, while eastern meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) are more closely related to hamsters. Most previous studies on the effects of urbanization have looked at body size, but not much else. Feijó and Smith compared the usual habits and habitats of chipmunks and voles. Eastern chipmunks forage throughout the year in woods with thick canopies and open understories, hoarding nuts and seeds in their burrows when they hibernate in the winter. Voles live in dense grasslands, nesting on the ground and eating mostly grasses and the occasional insect. Most urban specimens were collected after 1980, while specimens from less urbanized areas were from before 1950. After measuring different sections of specimen skulls and taking surface scans, the researchers found that both species experienced changes due to a number of factors, including temperature. The skulls of chipmunks have a wider brain case, are flatter than they used to be, and feature a longer rostrum (the frontal part of the skull containing the palate and nasal cavity), which could be a result of specific navigation needs. Their auditory bullae—bony structures near the back of the skull that protect parts of the inner ear and convert sound waves into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain—have also shifted backward. Like chipmunks, urban voles had flatter skulls and auditory bullae that were further back. Their auditory bullae have also shrunk as a result of needing to handle the loud, incessant noises of Chicago. While voles' average body size has remained virtually the same, other cranial bones revealed that the creatures have actually been affected by urbanization more than chipmunks. Vole skulls from more urbanized sites were not as diverse in shape as those from regions that were less urbanized, which could mean that the lower variance in closed urban environments keep voles more morphologically similar to each other. It became obvious that chipmunks in urban areas are increasing in size, and their rows of teeth have grown shorter. The researchers think this is because more food is available throughout the year, and that chipmunks having more human interaction has put more things on the menu. Among the free meals chipmunks grab in the city are high-calorie, highly processed foods that add body weight and are easier to chew than nuts (meaning they don't need to use their teeth as much). Urban brown rats have been experiencing the same evolutionary phenomenon. 'As cities continue to sprawl and push outwards, understanding complex morphological responses to increasing urbanization and associated effects can elucidate the impact of human population growth on biota,' the researchers said. '[It can] help us forecast how wild populations will cope with continuing change in the coming decades.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
10 things to know about Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris' husband
Doug Emhoff served as the first-ever second gentleman when Kamala Harris became vice president. He and Harris met on a blind date. Emhoff says it was "love at first sight." Emhoff is a partner at a law firm that pledged $100 million in pro bono work for Trump. When Kamala Harris became first Black, South Asian, and female vice president in American history, her husband, Doug Emhoff, became the country's first-ever second gentleman. Emhoff, who was described as the Biden-Harris campaign's "secret weapon" during the 2020 campaign, is an accomplished entertainment lawyer. In a move that defied stereotypical gender norms for political spouses, he left his law practice in order to focus on supporting Harris' political career. As second gentleman, he championed causes such as combatting antisemitism, promoting gender equality, and touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration's Build Back Better agenda. Upon returning to his legal profession as a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher after Harris' loss in 2024, the firm reached an agreement with President Donald Trump to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services supporting "conservative ideals," prompting calls from activists for Emhoff to resign. Here are 10 things to know about Emhoff. Doug Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in New Jersey before moving to California with his family at age 17. Emhoff lived in Old Bridge and Matawan, New Jersey, from 1969 until 1981. He wrote on X in 2019 that New Jersey "is still very much in my veins." He's been an entertainment lawyer for over 25 years. Emhoff was a partner at DLA Piper in Los Angeles specializing in intellectual property and entertainment and media law. He earned his law degree at the University of Southern California. He's litigated cases related to the intellectual property of the Taco Bell Chihuahua and the viral sensation "Pizza Rat." A Michigan company named Wrench sued Taco Bell for breach of contract, claiming that Taco Bell had taken the chihuahua character they invented to another ad agency, TBWA, for adaptation into a television series. A federal judge ruled that Taco Bell — not TBWA, thanks to Emhoff — had to pay $42 million, The Seattle Times reported. He also represented Jukin, a media company that owns the rights to the viral "Pizza Rat" video showing a rat dragging a New York slice down a flight of subway stairs, in copyright infringement lawsuits. As a result, GIFs of Pizza Rat were taken down across the internet, The Washington Post reported. He met Kamala Harris on a blind date in 2013. The two were set up on a blind date by Harris' friend Chrisette Hudlin, who met Emhoff through work. "The morning after our first date, @DouglasEmhoff emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months," Harris wrote on Instagram on Emhoff's birthday in 2020. "He said, 'I want to see if we can make this work.' We've been making it work ever since." Emhoff has often described meeting Harris as "love at first sight." The couple wed in a ceremony officiated by Harris' sister Maya in August 2014. Harris and Emhoff held their wedding at a courthouse in Santa Barbara, California. The ceremony incorporated elements of each of their heritages — Emhoff wore a flower around his neck according to Indian tradition, and they stepped on a glass in a Jewish wedding ritual. He has two children, Cole and Ella, from a previous marriage to Kerstin Emhoff. Doug and Kerstin divorced after 16 years and remain good friends. Kerstin is also friends with Harris — she even volunteered for Harris' campaign. Cole earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Colorado College in 2017, and Ella studied apparel and textiles at Parsons School of Design. Harris wrote in Elle magazine that she and Emhoff's children didn't like the term "stepmom," so they began calling her "Momala." In an interview with The New York Times in 2021, Cole Emhoff described Emhoff and Harris as "almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley." He was the first Jewish spouse of a vice president. Emhoff often spoke about his family and heritage at White House gatherings for Jewish holidays such as the White House Hanukkah party. He and Harris also affixed a mezuzah, a Jewish ritual object, to the doorpost of the vice president's official residence. During Harris' time as vice president, Emhoff left his law practice and became a law professor at Georgetown. Emhoff taught a class called "Entertainment Law Disputes." "I've long wanted to teach and serve the next generation of young lawyers," he said in a statement. "I couldn't be more excited to join the Georgetown community." He's a sports fan. Emhoff was a member at Hillcrest Country Club, a historically Jewish country club in Los Angeles that formed when other establishments would not admit Jews, The Washington Post reported. For a time, his Twitter bio included the descriptor "wannabe golfer." Emhoff was also photographed forming his March Madness bracket aboard Air Force Two in 2021 and has a fantasy football team named Nirvana. After Harris' loss in the 2024 presidential election, he returned to his law career as a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. In April, Trump announced that the firm reached an agreement with the White House not to engage in hiring practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to provide $100 million in pro bono work including "conservative ideals." "Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," the White House said in a statement on Truth Social. "The President is delivering on his promises of eradicating Partisan Lawfare in America, and restoring Liberty and Justice FOR ALL." The news comes amid a number of executive orders targeting the security clearances and government contracts of Big Law firms affiliated with causes and political figures opposed by Trump. Many of the executive orders have been blocked by federal judges. Legal activists called for Emhoff to resign from the firm. Emhoff and Willkie Farr & Gallagher did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider
