amuchmoreexotic

So some scientists found out that wild sheep on a Scottish island are getting smaller, because the warmer nights due to climate change mean that smaller lambs can survive without freezing to death, thus bringing down the average size of animals across the whole population.

Interesting, but the problem is that stupid journalists feel they need a more sensational angle than that, so they have portrayed this example of natural selection as somehow going against established evolutionary theory.

The excellent anthropologist and blogger John Hawks points out the problems in MSNBC's coverage of the story, which were largely reproduced across the media.

Now, to be fair, the lazy unqualified hacks are clearly all regurgitating the same university press release, because they include a silly quote from one of the scientists who carried out the study:

"According to classic evolutionary theory," Coulson added, the sheep "should have been getting bigger, because larger sheep tend to be more likely to survive and reproduce than smaller ones, and offspring tend to resemble their parents."

Mmm, if 'classic evolutionary theory' always said that larger animals do better, then it would have been abandoned as soon as the first pygmy variant of a known genus was found. It's not survival of the biggest, it's survival of the fittest (as in the most adapted to the environment).

Either Coulson was quoted out of context, or his university PR dept decided to fabricate a quote to make the story seem more exciting. Either way, the silly quote led hacks to extrapolate into outright fucktardery like this from the MSNBC story:

The study upends the belief that natural selection is a dominant feature of evolution, noting that climate can trump that card.

So now we've gone from a study showing sheep adapting to a warmer environment through natural selection, and somehow concluded that natural selection isn't a dominant feature of evolution!

Now we get to Steve Connor's take on the story:

How global warming shrank St Kilda's sheep

Subhead (probably written by a subeditor, but left uncorrected online): "Darwinism turned on its head as milder winters allow smaller lambs to survive"

Body copy: "For nearly a quarter of a century the wild Soay sheep on the windswept Scottish island of Hirta have been getting smaller when evolution should have made them bigger."

There's even an unsigned editorial which regurgitates the line about the study conflicting with "classic evolutionary theory", and suggests that maybe humans will "follow where the sheep lead" - because obviously a major cause of infant mortality is cold nights, so when the climate gets warmer, humans will totally get smaller in response, amirite?

It's not that Connor is unqualified, because according to this he has a zoology degree. It must be just that he's too lazy to bother doing a minute of critical thinking about whatever press release turns up in his inbox that day.

In conclusion, Steve Connor is shit at his job.