Is there any evidence of animal evolution in response to environmental changes caused by humans?

A new study has found that New Zealand’s native stoneflies have changed colour in response to human-driven environmental changes. Researchers from the University of Otago provide arguably the world’s most clear-cut case of animal evolution in response to change made by humans. They found the stonefly taking a different colour due to recent deforestation. Insects and small animals have evolved to achieve warning colours that mimic those of a poisonous forest species in order to escape from predators. The researchers found that stoneflies that mimic a related, toxic species repeatedly changed colour in response to forest loss and shifts in predation pressure.

“The removal of forests since humans arrived has removed the poisonous species. As a result, in deforested regions the mimicking species has abandoned this strategy — as there is nothing to mimic — instead evolving into a different colour,” Dr. Jon Waters, a coauthor of the study said in a release. The most well-known example of evolution caused by humans was the peppered moth population in the U.K, which changed colour in response to industrial pollution in the 1800s. However, the colour change in the peppered moth has been controversial. But the new study shows widespread deforestation has underpinned repeated colour shifts in wild insect populations.