Darwin lives

Introduction
In most cases, evolution happens far to slowly to be observed in a single lifetime (the exception being single-cellular organisms, which can evolve a resistance to an antibiotic during an 8th period AP Biology class). However, there will likely be a few cases of evolution that will be visible over the next few hundred years. The explosive force of human society has catalyzed some evolutionary changes already: sea otters used to spend time on shore, but now spend their entire lives in the ocean, for example. Anatomical evolution generally happens over spans of time far too big to be observed, but some behavioral change occurs remarkably quickly. So, here are a few examples of evolution that I predict we will see within the millenium.

1. Squirrels: better understanding of roads
Squirrels have it hard-wired into their brain that at the first sign of trouble, the optimal course of action is to run to the nearest tree and climb it. For centuries, this strategy worked out pretty well for them, but recently has become a bit of a problem. For example, if the nearest tree happens to be on the far side of the road that you have just run 3/4 of the way across, you have a much better chance of getting squished. Since you see so many squirrels dead on the road, this is an evolutionary moment waiting to happen. Eventually, some squirrells will happen to have an instinctual preference towards fleeing to the nearest side of the road, and as there comrades are weeded out by speeding semis, these neo-squirrels will come to command a progressively larger chunk of squirrel-dom. Just watch: there will be far fewer squirrel-automobile fatalities is fifty years.

2. Birds/butterflies: greater role in pollination
As it stands, honeybees are responsible for pollinating something like 90% of the America's crops. This is an artificial monoply, created by the rie of farming. Bees were included in that process as the most easily-controllable pollinator out there. However, an artificially created one-species pollination system is unstable, and bees are bound to be challenged in their dominance of different plant species by various other pollinators. With bee colonies around the country collapsing, I bet you'll begin to see the proliferation bird and other insect species that are able to adapt to pollinate these now-unmated flowers.

3. Humans: long-term decision making
We've got short term decision making down to an art: if you're hungry, you eat. If something is thrown at you, you duck. In the moment, we are pretty good at recognizing dangers and needs. In the long term we're reasonably good, but you still see a whole lot more people fail to get around to paying off their mortgage than fail to duck when a bottle is thrown at them. I expect that the percentage of these poor long-term decision makers that are able to reproduce is lower than those who are able to get it together enough to find a house, a job, and otherwise negotiate the long-term challenges of life.



Some other thoughts random on human evolution:

• Taste buds: Eating sweet things is a biologically good decision in the wild, but proves to be a poor idea in modern society. Therefore, our brain's preference for sweet, energy-filled food is a relic of a caveman's life. Perhaps adapted taste buds will re-correct our diets and cut back on obesity in our world.

• Susceptibility to religious extremism: The early 20th century fear that Catholics would breed their way to world domination did not pan out, but the fact remains that the people that contribute the most members to the next generation very often belong to extreme religious sects. This would seem to suggest that fanaticism will be a cultivated phenotype in the future.

• Knees & ankles: If only we had invented agriculture just a few thousand years after after we began walking on two legs, maybe we wouldn't have so many knee and ankle injuries.