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The mystery of the ornamented coot chicks


Eldorado

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"Previous research had shown that coot parents preferentially feed the brightly ornamented chicks over those whose plumage has been manipulated to be less colorful, giving the ornamented chicks a survival advantage.

"This parental preference within families can drive the evolution of ornamentation in the offspring, just as female mate choice can result in ornamented males in the context of sexual selection (peacocks being the classic example of that).

"Left unresolved by the earlier research, however, was why coot parents would have a preference for ornamented chicks in the first place, and whose fitness interests are served by the ornamentation, said Bruce Lyon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz and first author of the new study, published December 30 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Full article at Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191231111817.htm

"Extreme offspring ornamentation in American coots is favored by selection within families, not benefits to conspecific brood parasites."

Paper at PNAS: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/12/24/1913615117

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Oh, American coots. European coots have large broods and beat the crap out of them until only a few of the strongest are left.

Edited by Hammerclaw
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At a glance, I thought I was going to need to admonish EL again  about this site having "mixed company"  That language seemed a bit risque.  Even old coots need love :wub:

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