'Devilution'

Evolution is, by definition, a series of small changes that occur over long periods of time. At least, that's how scientists since the time of Charles Darwin always have regarded it.

But a new study suggests that the word "long" might not belong in the definition. Researchers studying, of all things, Tasmanian devils, have documented significant biological changes that occurred over about 12 years. In evolutionary terms, that's infinitely faster than the blink of an eye.

Even more surprising is what's prompting the change. It's occurring in response to a disease that nearly wiped out the little devils.

We're talking here about the world's largest meat-eating marsupial (meaning, a mammal that carries its young in a pouch like a kangaroo), and not the whirling dervish of Saturday morning cartoon fame. Tasmanian devils are found only on the island of Tasmania, south of Australia.

Since 1996, a kind of infectious cancer that causes facial tumors has been killing them off. It's spread by biting, something devils do for social interaction, especially when mating.

The tumors grow so large and fast that infected animals no longer can eat, so they starve to death.

In some places, devil populations have fallen by as much as 90 percent.

Before the cancer appeared, virtually all female devils reached sexual maturity at age 2 and produced several litters of young by 5 or 6. Very few female devils were capable of breeding at age 1.

These days, very few Tasmanian devils reach prime reproductive age; most die at 2 or 3 years. But the number capable of breeding at the age of 1 — what scientists call "precocious breeding" — has jumped 16-fold.

University of Tasmania zoologist Menna Jones reported the change in this week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We could be seeing evolution occurring before our eyes," she told The Associated Press.

That's not likely to sit well with the anti-evolution crowd, which prefers its devils with horns, pitchforks and a tail. But it's welcomed by conservationists and wildlife biologists. They believe the rapid evolution to early maturation and precocious breeding could save wild Tasmanian devils from extinction, which is a good thing.

What kind of world would this be if the only devils left in Tasmania were on TV?

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.