Human-induced environmental changes have increased rapidly during the Holocene and have reached alarming levels today. Consequently, it is crucial to better understand the impact of humans and climate on the faunas and floras through time. Understanding the direct and underlying effect of past human activity not only contributes to improving our knowledge of human history but also provides insights for the future. We here investigate the effect of the human-induced environmental changes that took place during the modern era (14–19th century AD) on the mandible of a small mammal, Suncus etruscus, in Corsica. We detected rapid morphological changes in mandible shape over the relatively short period of time included in our study, suggesting a strong human impact on the island. The morphological changes observed had functional consequences as they are related to changes in the mechanical potential of the principal masticatory muscle, the temporalis that, in turn, reflects shifts in the animal's diet over time. These results highlight the effect that the 600-year human agricultural activity shifts had on the island and its fauna. The integration of the body and the ramus of the mandible appears to be related to the mechanical potential of the temporalis muscle but does not constitute an indicator of human-induced environmental change. Whether these morphological changes are the result of natural selection (genetic processes) or of phenotypic plasticity (epigenetic processes) remains to be elucidated.

在全新世期间，人为引起的环境变化迅速增加，如今已达到令人震惊的程度。因此，更好地了解人类和气候随时间对动植物群的影响至关重要。了解过去人类活动的直接和潜在影响不仅有助于提高我们对人类历史的了解，而且可以为未来提供见解。我们在这里调查了现代（公元 14-19 世纪）人类引起的环境变化对小型哺乳动物Suncus etruscus下颌骨的影响，在科西嘉岛。我们在研究中包含的相对较短的时间内检测到下颌骨形状的快速形态变化，表明人类对该岛的影响很大。观察到的形态变化具有功能性后果，因为它们与主要咀嚼肌的机械势变化有关，颞肌反过来又反映了动物饮食随时间的变化。这些结果突出了 600 年来人类农业活动的转变对岛上及其动物群的影响。身体和下颌支的整合似乎与颞肌的机械势有关，但并不构成人类引起的环境变化的指标。