If that headline doesn't drive traffic to blogfish, I don't know what will. Young Nazca booby chicks get very aggressive; the firstborn kills the younger chick to increase its own chances of survival. Researchers at Wake Forest University* found that firstborn chicks -- both male and female -- get spikes of androgens that increase their aggression not only when they're babies but also throughout their lives. This is not the case for the Nazca's cousins, the blue-footed boobies, who spend their time peacefully comparing their feet.
* Cheers to Muller et al for publishing in PLoS so we can all read the original paper.
this story exactly parallels my brother and my relationship
ReplyDeleteI read this too quickly the first time through and thought it was about aggressive Nazi boobies.
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