Expert: Walter Hintz - 3/1/2010

Question
Mr. Hintz,

First off, what does it take to create a new species? If one group of a species evolves and the other doesn't are you creating a new species or just a sub-species? The reason I ask this is because there are White-Tailed Deer in Ohio, where I live, and there are White-Tailed Deer that live in the Rocky Mountains. The White-Tailed Deer in Ohio have had to put up with humans, houses, cars, and so on for almost two centuries now. In the Rocky Mountains, other than maybe a logging company or a ski resort, the White-Tailed Deer have not had to deal with humans that much. Also, the deer in Ohio are more prone to getting hit by a car than the deer in the Rocky Mountains. So, aren't the deer in Ohio evolving because the deer who are not quick enough to get out of the way of cars are being killed and the ones that are quick enough are living and reproducing? However, something that contradicts my thinking is that deer-related accidents in Ohio have not been going down, but that could just be because of new development. What do you think? Thanks!

Mark

Answer
First of all Mark the increase of auto accidents occurs for two reasons,  There is an increase in deer populations and the destruction of habitats has driven the deer in closer proximity with people. I live in Ohio also and I have deer hanging around my back yard.
There are not enough deer killed by cars to have any effect on the species.  Besides the problem is not the deer are too slow to avoid cars it's the fact that cars often cannot avoid deer jumping across the road.  It happens when deer are spooked by approaching headlights. I am sure that there are no evolutionary changes in deer that are coming about because of their interactions with people.