This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Thursday 3 November 2022
Unnatural Selection?
Rhino horn is essentially compacted hair. In spite of its being largely inert keratin, it's become a very expensive ingredient in some 'traditional medicines' of China and Vietnam. Over the last 100 years, rhino horns have become progressively shorter (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/01/rhino-horns-have-become-shorter-in-past-century-study-finds). Like the weapons of other large herbivores, rhino horns were probably developed for a combination of defence and sexual competition. Natural selection would normally have favoured animals with impressive horns. Big game hunters and poachers are likely, however, to have favoured rhinos with the longest horns. Big horns mean big profits. The shrinkage of rhino horns, over the last century, could be a consequence of traditional medicine. Animals, with smaller horns, would be more likely to survive to breed. Perhaps hornless rhinos will evolve?
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