Is Beak Morphology in Darwin's Finches Tuned to Loading Demands?

One of nature's premier illustrations of adaptive evolution concerns the tight correspondence in birds between beak morphology and feeding behavior. In seed-crushing birds, beaks have been suggested to evolve at least in part to avoid fracture. Yet, we know little about mechanical relationships...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joris Soons, Annelies Genbrugge, Jeffrey Podos, Dominique Adriaens, Peter Aerts, Joris Dirckx, Anthony Herrel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4466803?pdf=render