Nature 453 (1 May 2008)
Research Highlights | Nature 453, 4-5 (1 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/453004f;
Published online 30 April 2008
Animal behaviour: A reassuring tune
Curr. Biol. 18, 576–579 doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.02.078 (2008)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.02.078
A. SEWARD/ALAMY
Zoologists have debated whether birds that look out for predators while the
rest of their flock feeds are behaving selfishly or cooperatively. But few have
asked why these winged watchmen draw attention to themselves by making
particular calls.
Andrew Radford at the University of Bristol, UK, and his colleagues observed
groups of pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor; pictured) in the Kalahari in
Africa, and recorded the sentinels' sounds. Playing the calls back, they found
that the group ate more when a watchman sang; the flock also spread out more
and looked up less often.
Because the foraging gains of other birds seem to explain the behaviour, the
authors argue that it is an example of cooperation. The close kinship between
guard and guarded suggests that sentinel duty is a means by which individuals
increase their genetic contribution to future generations.
News and Views | Nature 453, 41-42 (1 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/453041a;
Published online 30 April 2008
Neuroscience: Hidden female talent
Yu & Dickson
A male fruitfly serenades his female with a courtship song produced by
vibrating one wing. The female also has the neuronal circuitry to generate a
song of her own, but her brain tells her not to.
Enjoy!
Xiao
--------------
XIAO, Jianqiang, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Psychology Department
Rutgers University
152 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854
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