Nice Nest
雄孔雀开屏是为了向人类炫耀她无与伦比的美丽尾巴？呵呵，似乎我们有点自作多情了，雄孔雀可没有兴趣理睬人类，他不过是在向自己的“意中人”表达爱意。现在研究人员发现，雄性刺鱼在求偶时也会有类似的行为-这些可爱的小家伙会把自己的巢穴打扮得漂漂亮亮来吸引雌性刺鱼的注意。
Nice Nest on today's moment of science.
Researcher Sara Oslund-Nilsson, who works at the University of Oslo, in Norway, was studying three-spined stickleback fish. She was interested in a particular behavior that has long fascinated researchers: the tendency of sticklebacks to use colored bits of dead algae in their nests.
Why is this interesting? Well, stickleback nests tend to be simple piles of greenish fuzz. Females come by, choose a nest, and lay eggs in it. Not much color is involved anywhere. Is it possible, Oslund-Nilsson thought, that the males were using the rare opportunity for color to get the attention of the females?
To test this idea she and her co-wokers did something so simple it’s brilliant. They cut up tiny strips of colored foil from Christmas candy and dropped them in the tanks.
Sure enough, the males went bazoo when they saw these brightly colored pieces–”bazoo” is a technical term–and started stuffing them into their nests.
Now, there is debate over what the data show next–but by some measures, the strategy was a hit. That is, when the females came along, they seemed to prefer the flashy, foil-filled nests over your run of the mill brown-green shtick.
So why would a flashy nest mean a better mate? It may be that by having a snazzy nest you are advertising your fitness–look at all the stuff I have! I can go out and gather things!
Oslund-Nilsson also notes that red strips seemed to be particularly popular and that male sticklebacks turn red when it’s time to breed. She suggests this may be a way of announcing breeding status:"Hey,look at all the red,one sexy fish is here!" |