The Z-Letter Archive

Any ideas on the identity of this fine bird?

What is this animal and what does it have in common with geckos?

The male club-winged manakin (Machaeropterus deliciousus), native to the Equadorian/Colombian Andes, uses wing-produced sonations to attract a mate. The secondary wing feathers of the males are grossly enlarged and are resonated by the birds (at around 36 knocks in 0.33 seconds) to produce a harmonic ‘ting’ sound.

Fancy plumage, courtship behaviours and song in male birds are often the result of sexual selection by female choice. All of which are associated with a cost to males (whether energetic or a risk of predation) and provide females with an opportunity to assess male quality before deciding who contributes to their offspring.

Interestingly, the ulnae (wing-bones to which the secondary feathers are attached) are completely solidified in these males, with volumes three times greater than those in other birds of a similar size. Altogether, this results in a massive bone, which should assist with the sound production.

The ulnae of three similar sized birds, closely related to the golden-collared manakin (left), and the golden collared-manakin (right)

A solidified (not hollow) wing bone has never before been reported in a volant bird, and is perhaps, in this case, a consequence of female choosiness for song quality.

A cost to these males may be the loss of the benefits of hollow wing bones associated with improved flight efficiency in birds, representing a trade-off between mating success and fight efficiency.

One for the comparative anatomists out there – to what animal does this skeleton belong? And how can you tell?

Photo by J. Codd.

You may have noticed that the Z-letter has a photo of the week section and we want you to get involved!

If you see or even better take a great animal photograph, post it to our Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/groups/181100242027137/?fref=ts or search for the Z-letter) with some background about the image and we’ll stick the best ones up on the blog!

For the materialistic of you, there’ll be a small prize for the snap of the semester!!

Mystery animal of the week!

Can you guess the identity of our mystery animal? And  for a bonus prize, what part of the animal’s anatomy is shown in  the photograph?

Photo by A. van Casteren.