Raccoons may be inching closer to becoming America's next pet.
Affectionately referred to as trash pandas, the masked mammals known for rummaging rubbish bins for easy food, are evolving based on their proximity to humans , even starting to look cuter, a new study says.
Evaluation of nearly 20,000 photos found "a clear reduction in snout length" in urban raccoons compared to their rural cousins - a physical shift consistent with the early stages of domestication seen in cats and dogs.
Some that have been adopted as pets have become TikTok celebrities. One particularly bold dumpster-diver even sprinted across the pitch during a Major League Soccer match in Philadelphia last year.
The stripe-tailed mammals, also nicknamed "backyard bandits", are widespread across the contiguous US.
