Urbanization has had visible morphological effects on chipmunks and voles in the Chicago metro area. While both chipmunks and ...

Urban wildlife is evolving right under our noses — and scientists have the skulls to prove it. By examining over a century’s worth of chipmunk and vole specimens from Chicago, researchers discovered ...

Researchers at the Field Museum studied chipmunk and vole specimens from a century ago till now to examine the influence of people on rodents over time.

Chicago rodents have evolved with city life. Museum skulls reveal how urbanization is quietly reshaping wildlife.

The research team chose two rodents, eastern chipmunks and eastern meadow voles, commonly found in Chicago.. Co-author Dr. Anderson Feijó, assistant curator of mammals at the Field Museum, said ...

Chipmunk specimens in the Field Museum's collections. Credit: (c) Field Museum "Over the last century, chipmunks in Chicago have been getting bigger, but their teeth are getting smaller," says Feijó.

The study, which examined the effects of urbanization and climate change on the skull, was centered on two rodents that are commonly found in Chicago—eastern chipmunks and eastern meadow voles.