Pollution and pesticide use have been linked to evolution of chemical resistance and phenotypic shifts in invertebrates, but less so in vertebrates. Here we provide evidence that poisoning directed towards a mammalian carnivore, the dingo (Canis dingo), is linked to an increase in dingo body mass. We compared the skull length of dingoes, a proxy for size, from three regions where dingo populations were controlled by distributing poisoned meat baits and an unbaited region, before and after the introduction of the toxin sodium fluoroacetate (Compound 1080). Following 1080 introduction, dingo skull length increased in baited regions but not in the unbaited region. We estimate that after 1080 introduction, the skull length of female and male dingoes in baited regions increased by 4.49 and 3.6 mm, respectively. This equates to a 1.02- and 0.86-kg increase in mean body masses of female and male dingoes, respectively. We hypothesize that dingo body size has increased in baited regions due to 1080 selecting for animals with larger body size or because a reduction in dingo abundance in baited areas may have removed constraints on growth imposed by intraspecific competition and prey availability. Our study provides evidence that pesticide use can prompt phenotypic change in comparatively large and long-lived large vertebrates.

中文翻译：

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使用杀虫剂与大型食肉动物的体型增加有关

污染和杀虫剂的使用与无脊椎动物的化学抗性和表型变化有关，而在脊椎动物中则较少。在这里，我们提供的证据表明，中毒是针对哺乳动物的食肉动物，例如野狗（Canis dingo）），与流浪者的体重增加有关。我们比较了在引入毒素氟乙酸钠（化合物1080）之前和之后，通过分布有毒的肉饵和三个诱饵控制的三个地区的丁格尔种群，丁格尔的头骨长度是大小的代表。在引入1080之后，在诱饵区域中的丁戈头骨长度增加了，但在没有诱饵的区域中没有。我们估计，引入1080后，诱饵区域中雌性和雄性野狗的头骨长度分别增加了4.49和3.6 mm。这等于分别使雌性和雄性野狗的平均体重增加1.02千克和0.86千克。我们推测，诱饵区域中的流浪者体型有所增加，这是由于选择更大体型的动物1080或诱饵区域中的流浪者数量减少而消除了种内竞争和猎物可利用性对生长的限制。我们的研究提供证据表明，农药的使用可以促使较大和长寿的大型脊椎动物发生表型变化。