Peacocks shake their big tail feathers around 26 times/second to court females.
New discovery: the little feather crests on top of peahen heads are vibration-sensors that could evaluate how good the peacocks are at doing this. #resonance
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/12/peacock-crests-are-vibration-sensors/578656/ …
-
Immediate consideration is how this coevolved with her sexual selection pressure on him to be fantastic (no pun). Her crest would suggest ancestral navigating function co-opted (no pun) for mate detection. His response to facilitate her detection of him. So, how much is visual?
Seems like it's all of the above: visual and vibratory and acoustic (peacocks are loud)
-
-
Hmm. Thanks. Yet detection at distance integrated with visual recognition of sexy (healthy / potentially fit, sensu Hamilton) is perplexing for us to imagine how the whole system might develop. Then again, I give you the eye. Or magnetic navigation. Impressive even if unintended.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.