I haven't read the paper yet, I'll have a look later. However, I'd
wondered the same thing about rabbits and deer, that both have white
under their tails. In rabbits, I think it's to break up the outline
while they're running away. From behind you see a moving grey/white
spot that, surprisingly, disappears into the greenery.
Difficult to prove the why's of evolution, but maybe this helps as
well? The undertail just needs to be a different colour for
signalling, not necessarily white. Maybe the white is an adventageous
colour for camoflage?
Slightly off-topic: Did anyone see Intelligent Design On Trial the
other night? I didn't realise how roundly it had been dismissed. The
scientists on the ID side didn't do their reputations any credit by so
obviously ignoring evidence that discreditted their theory.
EB
On 12/9/08, Andrew Taylor <> wrote:
> There is a new paper in Evolutionary Ecology,
> "Why some rails have white tails: the evolution of white undertail
> plumage and anti-predator signaling"
>
> The authors believe the white-tail on swamphens (and other rails)
> are to signal that there is danger from a predator to other swamphens.
>
> I am not sure how convincing the analysis is - but the discussion of
> the various rails around the world and their behaviour is
> fascinating.
>
> Currently the full text of the paper is freely available at:
> http://www.springerlink.com/content/5k21n03541762178/
>
> Andrew
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--
Evan Beaver
Lapstone, Blue Mountains, NSW
lat=-33.77, lon=150.64
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