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A new study suggests that raccoons living in cities are undergoing the first stages of evolutionary domestication

City raccoons have shorter snouts than rural raccoons, a classic sign of tameness in animals

Researchers hypothesize that easy access to human trash is the main driver causing less aggressive features in raccoons

SUNDAY, Nov. 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — That resourceful “trash panda” digging through your garbage may be more than just a nuisance — it could be a living example of evolution in progress.

A new study suggests that raccoons living near humans are showing physical changes in line with the earliest stages of domestication, much like the ancestors of dogs and cats.

The research, published recently in the journal Frontiers in Zoology , analyzed ne

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