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Full-Text Articles in Biology
Insect Availability And Parental Care Behavior In A Common Bird, Cole Bourque
Insect Availability And Parental Care Behavior In A Common Bird, Cole Bourque
Symposium of Student Scholars
Populations of aerially insectivorous birds are declining throughout North America. Urbanization may indirectly contribute to this decline through its negative effects on populations of insects, an important food source in insectivores' diets, where low insect availability may be especially challenging for birds during breeding. How fluctuations in insect populations impact various species at higher trophic levels is an important area of current study for future conservation biology. Here, we examine whether nestling provisioning, brooding and guarding behaviors in a breeding bird—the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)—may be altered depending on the relative insect availability in the environment. We found …
Laryngeal Vocals In Old World Locals: Air Sacs Usage In Bonobos, Chelsea Trenbeath
Laryngeal Vocals In Old World Locals: Air Sacs Usage In Bonobos, Chelsea Trenbeath
Symposium of Student Scholars
Except for humans, extant great apes have evolutionarily conserved lateral ventricular air sacs extending from laryngeal saccules. Humans are the only species of Hominidae that lack this anatomical feature attached to the primary vocal apparatus. As we are the only species that produces spoken language, this association has led to hypothesis that the loss of lateral ventricular air sacs was necessary for the evolution of spoken language. However, why these sacs are conserved in all other hominids remains unclear. Computer modeling has indicated that air sacs may increase resonance properties, but there are no data from great apes indicating which …