Evolution and climate change: Survival of the less fit
The mystery of Scotland’s shrinking sheep may have been solvedON THE remote island of Hirta, in the St Kilda archipelago beyond the Outer Hebrides, live hundreds of wild Soay sheep. Over the past 20 years biologists studying this primitive breed, which has not changed much since the Bronze Age, have noticed that the sheep are getting smaller. This was a puzzle because, in general, bigger animals are usually much better at surviving the island’s extremely cold winters. The biologists now think that climate change could be involved. Tim Coulson of Imperial College, London, and his colleagues examined the weights of about 2,000 female sheep that lived on the island in the two decades of their study. They combined this information with detailed histories of individual animals. They found that daughters were, on average, lighter than their mothers had been at the same age. Their legs were shorter, too, suggesting that the breed really was shrinking. ...
Evolution and climate change: Survival of the less fit
The mystery of Scotland’s shrinking sheep may have been solvedON THE remote island of Hirta, in the St Kilda archipelago beyond the Outer Hebrides, live hundreds of wild Soay sheep. Over ...
Fri 3 Jul 09 from The Economist
Like a Wool Sweater, Scottish Sheep Shrink As Climate Heats Up
Don’t be alarmed, but on a remote island in Scotland the sheep are ...
Thu 2 Jul 09 from Discover Magazine
How global warming shrank St Kilda's sheep
It was the curious case of the shrinking sheep. For nearly a quarter of a century the wild Soay sheep on the windswept Scottish island of Hirta have been getting smaller when evolution should ...
Thu 2 Jul 09 from The Independent
Climate change shrinks sheep
The size-reducing effects of gentler winters overwhelm evolutionary trends
Thu 2 Jul 09 from ScienceNews
Climate change is shrinking sheep
Climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink, according to research.
Thu 2 Jul 09 from BBC News
Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep
Milder winters are causing Scotland's wild breed of Soay sheep to get smaller, despite the evolutionary benefits of possessing a large body, according to new research due to be published in ...
Thu 2 Jul 09 from PhysOrg
The Incredible Shrinking Sheep of Scotland
According to a new study in Science, it seems that at least one animal -- the wild sheep of Soay Island -- is adapting to climate change
Thu 2 Jul 09 from TIME
The Incredible Shrinking Sheep
Like a wool coat in the rain, sheep are shrinking. But it's not rain that's doing it.
Fri 3 Jul 09 from Livescience
Lowering the baa (or how our sheep are shrinking)
Everyone knows that woolly jumpers shrink in a hot wash. Now scientists say warm weather is causing sheep to get smaller.
Fri 3 Jul 09 from Daily Mail
Baaad news? Global Warming Now Shrinking Sheep
Thu 2 Jul 09 from U.S. News
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