Fish Go Birding
Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fish-go-birding-video
Date: January 9th 2014
Summary:
In a lake in Africa there was a fish that jumped out of the water and grabbed a swallow strait from the air. It is only since the 1940s that the African tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) have been known to eat swallows. this knowledge is so recent that Nico Smit and his team was skeptical . In Fact, when they found the fish catch the bird they were not looking for evidence, but rather observing the migration patterns of this fish and other animals in the lake. They saw about 20 fish do the same thing. Because there is so little studies of freshwater fish, Smit "hopes that their findings will really focus the attention on the importance of basic freshwater research, and specifically fish behavior.”
Relevance:
This article shows that even though most people think of evolution as something happening in the past it never stops happening. That's how we end up with animals doing/eating something they didn't in the past. Organisms will keep adapting to new environment changes such as a abundance of one type of food.
Is there any evidence of an evolutionary adaption the allows the fish to propel itself out of the water? Do they have a special adaption other fish do not?
ReplyDeleteWas there some kind of competition for food or resources which led to the evolution of this fish?
ReplyDeleteDoes this fish have other populations around the world? if so, are they displaying this recent adaptation?
ReplyDelete