Their numbers decimated by a virulent and contagious form of cancer, endangered Tasmanian devils are breeding at ever-younger ages.
Since it was first reported in 1996, devil facial tumor disease has wiped out more than half of the ferocious marsupials. The cancer is invariably fatal and typically kills the devils between two and three years of age, their traditional sexual primes. The species could be extinct within a few decades.
But evolution is fighting back: researchers have observed a 16-fold increase in precocious sexual maturity, with animals as young as one now breeding.
"This is the first known case of infectious disease leading to increased early reproduction in a mammal," write Australian researchers who described the devils' race against cancer in a study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
But will the cancer -- the first contagious cancer ever described -- evolve to catch the devils? That remains to be seen.
Good luck, Taz.
Life-history change in disease-ravaged Tasmanian devil populations [PNAS]
Images: JLplusAL; PNAS
Note: Esteemed science journalist David Quammen recently wrote about Tasmanian devils in Harper's. It's firewalled, but he discusses his work on NPR here.
See Also:
- A Human-Like Race Is Going Extinct
- A Species Waves Goodbye
- 'Goddess of the Yangtze' Driven to Extinction
- Coral Reefs in Hot Water
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