Humans helped vultures colonise the Canary Islands

Monday, December 13, 2010 - 12:10 in Paleontology & Archaeology

The Egyptian vulture population of the Canary Islands was established following the arrival of the first human settlers who brought livestock to the islands. A genetic comparison of Iberian and Canarian birds, published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, found that the Egyptian vulture population in the Canary Islands was likely established around 2500 years ago - around the same time as humans began to colonise the islands...

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