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Top 10 Menno Schilthuizen Quotes (2025 Update)

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “But let it be clear that I consider human cities as a fully natural phenomenon, on a par with the mega-structures that other ecosystem engineers build for their societies – the only difference being that whereas ants, termites, corals, and beavers have been maintaining their roles at a stably modest level for millions of years, the scale of human ecosystem engineering has grown by several orders of magnitude over just a few thousand years.”

1. “But let it be clear that I consider human cities as a fully natural phenomenon, on a par with the mega-structures that other ecosystem engineers build for their societies – the only difference being that whereas ants, termites, corals, and beavers have been maintaining their roles at a stably modest level for millions of years, the scale of human ecosystem engineering has grown by several orders of magnitude over just a few thousand years.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “The fourth and final explanation for the rich biodiversity of cities is the sheer diversity of habitat patches.”

2. “The fourth and final explanation for the rich biodiversity of cities is the sheer diversity of habitat patches.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “A third source of urban biological richness is, in fact, the loss of good-quality habitat immediately outside the city perimeter.”

3. “A third source of urban biological richness is, in fact, the loss of good-quality habitat immediately outside the city perimeter.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “These constantly arriving foreign inhabitants form the first of at least four explanations for the high biodiversity urban naturalists are encountering in their cities. A second explanation is the fact that the places where people like to build their settlements, which then grow into cities, are often biologically rich areas to begin with.”

4. “These constantly arriving foreign inhabitants form the first of at least four explanations for the high biodiversity urban naturalists are encountering in their cities. A second explanation is the fact that the places where people like to build their settlements, which then grow into cities, are often biologically rich areas to begin with.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “That is why urban evolution can proceed so rapidly: the animals and plants that need to adapt to whatever new feature humans release in their urban environment do not need to wait for the right mutations to come along. Mostly, the necessary gene variants are already there, waiting in the wings of the standing genetic variation. It only takes natural selection to bring them out into the limelight, and give them a chance to shine.”

5. “That is why urban evolution can proceed so rapidly: the animals and plants that need to adapt to whatever new feature humans release in their urban environment do not need to wait for the right mutations to come along. Mostly, the necessary gene variants are already there, waiting in the wings of the standing genetic variation. It only takes natural selection to bring them out into the limelight, and give them a chance to shine.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “What all this means is that the ecosystems of cities around the world are growing more and more alike; their communities of plants and animals, fungi, single-celled organisms, and viruses are slowly inching toward a single globalized, multi-purpose urban biodiversity. And even if the exact species across cities may not be identical, you will find similar species playing similar roles.”

6. “What all this means is that the ecosystems of cities around the world are growing more and more alike; their communities of plants and animals, fungi, single-celled organisms, and viruses are slowly inching toward a single globalized, multi-purpose urban biodiversity. And even if the exact species across cities may not be identical, you will find similar species playing similar roles.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “As we have seen before, cities are like mad scientists, creating their own crazy ecological concoctions by throwing all kinds of native and foreign elements into the urban melting pot.”

7. “As we have seen before, cities are like mad scientists, creating their own crazy ecological concoctions by throwing all kinds of native and foreign elements into the urban melting pot.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “In other words, Passer domesticus has become an urban species because it was already adapted to a lifestyle that, purely by accident, prepared it for the niches that we have created in cities. The urban environment offers conditions that happen to resemble one or more aspects of a species’ way of living in pre-urban times. And it is those species that are pre-adapted to the novel niches in the city. They are the first to move in.”

8. “In other words, Passer domesticus has become an urban species because it was already adapted to a lifestyle that, purely by accident, prepared it for the niches that we have created in cities. The urban environment offers conditions that happen to resemble one or more aspects of a species’ way of living in pre-urban times. And it is those species that are pre-adapted to the novel niches in the city. They are the first to move in.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “This whole theater of great tit socio-sexual opportunities, threats, decisions, and interactions is played out during the dawn chorus, when territorial males are flitting about nervously, loudly broadcasting their “dee-du” calls, and meanwhile keeping an eye on their own females and on rival males, as well as ogling female neighbors.”

9. “This whole theater of great tit socio-sexual opportunities, threats, decisions, and interactions is played out during the dawn chorus, when territorial males are flitting about nervously, loudly broadcasting their “dee-du” calls, and meanwhile keeping an eye on their own females and on rival males, as well as ogling female neighbors.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “What she means is that cities exchange not only species, but also the human inventions that make those cities tick and that urban organisms must adapt to.”

10. “What she means is that cities exchange not only species, but also the human inventions that make those cities tick and that urban organisms must adapt to.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “Roughly, with every tenfold increase in island size, the number of species you find there doubles.”

11. “Roughly, with every tenfold increase in island size, the number of species you find there doubles.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “Though this gives a fleeting impression of them all being connected by wireless to the great mother ship of French aristocracy in the sky, the “antennae” are in fact meant to keep the park birds from landing and covering their regal heads in unsightly droppings.”

12. “Though this gives a fleeting impression of them all being connected by wireless to the great mother ship of French aristocracy in the sky, the “antennae” are in fact meant to keep the park birds from landing and covering their regal heads in unsightly droppings.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “It is not likely that the insects were attracted by any beer in the bottle because, as the authors remind us, no Australian would ever throw away a bottle that still has beer in it.”

13. “It is not likely that the insects were attracted by any beer in the bottle because, as the authors remind us, no Australian would ever throw away a bottle that still has beer in it.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

Menno Schilthuizen Quote: “Phylogeography began in the 1980s as a way to tell the evolutionary history of natural populations of animals and plants. It usually involves looking at a large number of “markers,” variable bits in the DNA of a species, for a lot of specimens from different parts of a species’ area of distribution. Phylogeographers can then use such rich information on the genetic make-up of a species to trace back its history.”

14. “Phylogeography began in the 1980s as a way to tell the evolutionary history of natural populations of animals and plants. It usually involves looking at a large number of “markers,” variable bits in the DNA of a species, for a lot of specimens from different parts of a species’ area of distribution. Phylogeographers can then use such rich information on the genetic make-up of a species to trace back its history.”

— Menno Schilthuizen

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