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Innovation rate, brain size and species richness in birds

The number of species varies greatly among taxa. In birds, for example, the parvorder Passerida contains 3556 species while the Odontophorida (New World Quails) contains only six species. This uneven distribution of species among avian taxa is not random and therefore warrants an explanation. The behavioral drive hypothesis stipulates that the capacity for innovation, coupled with the rapid transmission of the behavioral novelty to conspecifics, may expose individuals to new selective pressures and help fix mutations that would otherwise not be expressed. This should lead to accelerated rates of evolution. I test this hypothesis by examining the link between behavioral flexibility and the number of species per taxon. I adopt a comparative approach and seek a general explanation of richness, thereby removing the traditional focus placed on the success of the songbirds and on their complex singing apparatus. I use two measures of flexibility, feeding innovation rate and relative brain size. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31280
Date January 2001
CreatorsNicolakakis, Nektaria.
ContributorsLefebvre, Louis (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (Department of Biology.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001811014, proquestno: MQ70477, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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