The Barmaiden

lickystickypickyme:

For every 300 Muscovites, there’s a stray dog wandering the streets of Russia’s capital.  The fierce pressure of urban living has driven the dogs to evolve wolf-like traits, increased intelligence, and even the ability to navigate the subway.

Over time, the stray dog population lost the spotted coats, wagging tails, and friendliness that separate dogs from wolves, while at the same time evolving social structures and behaviors optimized to four ecological niches occupied by  guard dogs, scavengers, wild dogs, and beggars.

Relying on scraps of food from commuters, the beggar dogs can not only recognize which humans are most likely to give them something to eat, but have evolved to ride the subway. Using scents, and the ability to recognize the train conductor’s names for different stops, they incorporate many stations into their territories.

popsci

This is crazy!