Ostriches can lay the largest eggs of any living animal. When it comes time for breeding, unrelated females will lay their eggs together in a single nest. The male will then raise the joint clutch, along with the dominant female. This behaviour is known as communal nesting. For a bird, it’s an unusual mating system, unique to only a handful of species, including the greater rhea. How did this behaviour evolved?
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References:
Bertram BCR. The Evolution and Maintenance of the Communal Nesting System. In: The Ostrich Communal Nesting System. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.
Kimwele CN, Graves JA. A molecular genetic analysis of the communal nesting of the ostrich (Struthio camelus). Mol Ecol 2003;12(1):229-236.
Vehrencamp SL & Quinn JS. Joint laying systems. In: Ecology and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Birds. Koenig WD and Dickinson JL (eds). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Vehrencamp SL. Evolutionary routes to joint-female nesting in birds. Behav Ecol 2000;11(3):334-344.
Huynen L, et al. Ancient DNA reveals extreme egg morphology and nesting behavior in New Zealand’s extinct moa. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010;107(37):16201-16206.
Yen A, et al. Egg incubation mechanics of giant bird. Biology 2021;10(8):738.
#nature #wildlife #birds #evolution #ostrich
26 авг 2021
