ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESDec 1

The trash panda is being domesticated

What?

Urban #raccoons have shorter snout length than rural raccoons

This is due to #neoteny: the retention of juvenile characteristics in adulthood

An aggressive adult #raccoon won't live long near us. So their genes aren't passed on. But the more docile and childlike breed more successfully in cities

Dogs are basically wolf puppies after all

Give it a millennia or two and we'll have raccoons on our sofas

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-city-raccoons-domestication.html

#Evolution #Science

City raccoons showing signs of domestication

That resourceful "trash panda" digging through your garbage may be more than just a nuisance—it could be a living example of evolution in progress.

Show threadmike805
@benroyce Yes they are cute. Is there anything we can do about the brain-eating parasites they carry?
Dec 1 at 9:10pmWeb
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESDec 1

@mike805

yes:

co-evolution of parasite and new host (us)

like we have cats and are (mostly, it's still connected to increases in schizophrenia) immune to the parasite they carry

because humans who weren't, died

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

Toxoplasma gondii - Wikipedia

Show threadAndyDec 1

@benroyce @mike805 so we're gonna see a mass die-off among the non-immune who choose to keep raccoons as pets?

or are we gonna see a mass die-off because non-immune raccoon keepers are gonna keep being appointed hhs secretary?

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESDec 2
@portlandy @mike805 ✅