Darwin Comes to Town

How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution

By: Menno Schilthuizen

Narrated by: Chris Nayak

Darwin Comes to Town draws on eye-popping examples of adaptation to share a stunning vision of urban evolution in which humans and wildlife co-exist in a unique harmony.

*Carrion crows in the Japanese city of Sendai have learned to use passing traffic to crack nuts.

*Lizards in Puerto Rico are evolving feet that better grip surfaces like concrete.

*Europe’s urban blackbirds sing at a higher pitch than their rural cousins, to be heard over the din of traffic.

How is this happening?

Menno Schilthuizen is one of a growing number of “urban ecologists” studying how our manmade environments are accelerating and changing the evolution of the animals and plants around us. In Darwin Comes to Town, he takes us around the world for an up-close look at just how stunningly flexible and swift-moving natural selection can be.

With human populations growing, we’re having an increasing impact on global ecosystems, and nowhere do these impacts overlap as much as they do in cities. The urban environment is about as extreme as it gets, and the wild animals and plants that live side-by-side with us need to adapt to a whole suite of challenging conditions: they must manage in the city’s hotter climate (the “urban heat island”); they need to be able to live either in the semidesert of the tall, rocky, and cavernous structures we call buildings or in the pocket-like oases of city parks (which pose their own dangers, including smog and free-ranging dogs and cats); traffic causes continuous noise, a mist of fine dust particles, and barriers to movement for any animal that cannot fly or burrow; food sources are mainly human-derived. And yet, as Schilthuizen shows, the wildlife sharing these spaces with us is not just surviving, but evolving ways of thriving.

This audiobook reveals that evolution can happen far more rapidly than Darwin dreamed, while providing a glimmer of hope that our race toward over population might not take the rest of nature down with us.

©2018 Menno Schilthuizen (P)2018 Headline Publishing Limited

Critic reviews

“In a conversational style as appealing as it is informative, Schilthuizen...explores myriad ways in which plants and animals have adapted to modern urban environments....Schilthuizen is careful throughout to distinguish between true evolutionary changes and learned behaviors passed between individuals. He also does a superb job of introducing important ecological principles along the way, leaving readers with a fascinating question: ‘Can we harness the power of urban evolution to use it to make more livable cities for the future?’” —Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW*

“Not only is evolution a real thing (something that, pathetically, one still needs to point out), and not only is it an ongoing process (rather than a phenomenon of the distant past), but some of the fastest, most interesting evolving occurs right under our noses, in our cities. In Darwin Comes to Town, Menno Schilthuizen explores the ways in which animals and plants have rapidly evolved to adapt to the opportunities and exigencies of urban niches. This is a fun, witty, thoroughly informative read.” —Robert M. Sapolsky, New York Times bestselling author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

“Natural selection is occurring all around us, and, as Darwin Comes to Town explains, increasingly because of us. Menno Schilthuizen introduces us to such rapidly-evolving creatures as urban lizards and city-dwelling mice. The result is a lively and fascinating book." —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction

Evolution rediscovered

Here is an interesting read and a refreshing outlook on the impact that humans and our urban environments have on the natural world. As the ultimate ecosystem engineers, we are rapidly driving the evolution of innumerable plant and animal species, a process that we can actively observe. At the center of the book’s message, and indeed my favorite aspect of the book, is a challenge to the idea that human presence and influence is somehow inherently evil and unnatural. Are we not as “natural” as any other species? There is no reason that we cannot, at the same time, work to preserve and appreciate the untouched natural regions of Earth and diminish our destructive tendencies as well as observe, celebrate, and learn from our role in urban evolution.

Perfect book for experts or newbies

This book is PHENOMENAL! The most fascinating evolutionary stories in the most entertaining format that makes it accessible to everyone. Like the best biology teacher you’ve ever had giving a lecture just for you.

Eye opening and optimistic!

What a fascinating field of study, one that affects ALL of us! I now see my neighborhood.with new and appreciative eyes and understanding.

A Hope For Nature

A superbly written and researched book. If you fear for what is happening to our planet, as you should, this will give you some hope for the future of nature.

if you don't pay full attention you'll miss out

it was pretty interesting how me have cause animals to adjust and cause harm to themselves all by adding cars and street lights

Interesting Overview

Have you ever found yourself wondering, on a long drive cross-state drive, how being tasty to humans and docile enough for agriculture seems to be the single best thing a species can do to survive (and even flourish) ? Or whether animals might think of cars as fast moving herbivores that are mostly harmless? This book answered some of my musings from long country drives, but left me wanting more.

to my thinking, the author is biased towards defending urban ecology as a study, and probably should have spent more time on negative impacts (and possible answers).

Joyful journey

This is a delightful journey through the world. Highly recommend. Good for all ages. Terrific.