Frogs and evolution at Cherynobl

[Opti]

theconversation.com/chernobyl-black-frogs-reveal-evolution-in-action-191034

Evolutionary responses in Chernobyl

The results of our study suggest that Chernobyl frogs could have undergone a process of rapid evolution in response to radiation. In this scenario, those frogs with darker colouration at the time of the accident, which normally represent a minority in their populations, would have been favoured by the protective action of melanin.



The dark frogs would have survived the radiation better and reproduced more successfully. More than ten generations of frogs have passed since the accident and a classic, although very fast, process of natural selection may explain why these dark frogs are now the dominant type for the species within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.