Originally posted June 3, 2010

The Wild Side

June 3, 2010

I’m going to tell you to do something today, dear reader, that may come as a shock to your system. I am going to suggest that you put another science writer on your weekly to-read list. (*pausing while you regroup*) I know that it may come as a surprise to you that there are lots of things on the internet. Really, there are. It’s not just ScienceGeist. There are large swaths of the internet that are even useful. And most of these aren’t even illicit.

Olivia Judson writes a weakly “Opinionator Blog” for the New York Times titled “The Wild Side”. In her articles she discusses, with deftness and wonder, the evolutionary forces that bring quirkiness to our little planet.

In this week’s article, her subject is the Cuckoo bird. Cuckoos have the curious habit of laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. The “host” birds will hatch the eggs and feed the young nestling even though the baby bird looks nothing like the hosts own offspring.

Image Credit: Roger Wilmshurst/Photo Researchers, Inc.

These brood parasites, as they are known are really interesting to study for their evolutionary development. The parasites need to appear to the host as one of their own for as long as possible. This means that the eggs that the parasite lays need to look like that of the host. Also, different physical markers, such as the shape and coloring of the cuckoo’s mouth, need to look like that of the hosts own offspring. Competing evolutionary forces are also at work in the hosts. They need to develop ways to recognize the parasite so that their own offspring are better able to survive.

Olivia’s writing is always very interesting and engaging. I highly recommend her articles to anyone who is interested in evolutionary biology or just really, really good science writing.