Peacock Characteristics and Genetic Traits for Natural Selection

866 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Understanding natural selection essay

Noun Biology.

a special type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire distinct forms either because the members of one sex choose mates with particular features or because in the competition for mates among the members of one sex only those with certain traits succeed.1

Attraction and certain traits are an important part in the selection of a significant other. Certain people are attracted to that muscular baseball player out at first base, while others could be into the photographer kneeling down behind the fence. There are several examples of what a person might find attractive. The way someone smiles or maintain their hair could be a major deal breaker; therefore, a person with an awkward smile or messy hair can be either beautiful or hideous to another person. Humans are not the only mammals that choose their significant other based on specific features and characteristic traits.

“The peacocks or technically, the pea fowls (the collective name for the peacock and peahen), belong to the pheasant family.”2 They are large birds that weigh approximately 8-13 lbs. and have a body length, including its tail, up to 5 feet. Peacocks and peahens, like us, have specific features and characteristics that base their sexual selection. Male peacocks express complex courtships during the process of finding their peahen. Multiple traits may express information on the genetic and characteristic quality of male peacocks. “In particular, fixed characters, such as feather ornaments might convey information about past male condition; whereas flexible traits such as behavioral displays should be sensitive to present condition.”3 Because the peacocks feathers present information of their past condition, they are very important in th...

... middle of paper ...

...tisements honestly reflect health status in Peacocks (Pavo Cristatus). Behav Ecol and Sociobiol [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2014 Feb 18]; 58(6): 552-557. Available from: http://commons.wvc.edu/library

4. Takahashi M, Arita H, Hirala-Hasegawa M, Hasegawa T. Peahens do not prefer Peacocks with more elaborate trains. Anim Behav [Internet]. 2008 Apr [cited 2014 Feb 26]; 75(4):1209. Available from: http://commons.wvc.edu/library

5. Dakin R, Robert M. Peacocks orient their courtship displays towards the sun. Behav Ecolo Sociobiol [Internet]. 2009 Apr [cited 2014 Feb 18]. 63(6): 825-834. Available from: http://commons.wvc.edu/library

6. Petrie M, Krupa A, Burke T. Peacock’s lek with relatives even in the absence of social and environmental cues. LDN J Nature [Internet]. 1999 Sep [cited 2014 Feb 18]; 401(6749): 155-157. Available from: http://commons.wvc.edu/library

Show More
Related

  • Forkbeaks Case Study

    405 Words  | 1 Pages

    The four-pointed forkbird has the best suited evolutionary fitness. By the end of the activity, there were only two two-pointed forkbirds, one one-pointed forkbirds, and seventeen four-pointed forkbirds. This shows that four-pointed forkbirds have a better chance of surviving and passing on their traits.

    Read More

  • DBQ Essay: The Rise Of Conservation

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    And the new information about the number of beautiful birds used to furnish women’s hats caused further conservation movement. “It is high time for the whole civilized world to know that many of the most beautiful and remarkable birds of the world are now being exterminated to furnish millinery ornaments for womenswear. The mass of the new information that we have recently secured on this traffic from the feather trade headquarters is appalling. Subsequently, new policies and laws are created to give people equal access to wildlife.

    Read More

  • Bird Imagery in Jane Eyre

    2720 Words  | 6 Pages

    Rowland, Beryl. Birds With Human Souls, A Guide to Bird Symbolism. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 1978.

    Read More

  • Audobon/Dillard Essay

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...d genuine excitement, although the reasons were still scientific. The birds’ effects on Dillard, on the other hand, contrasted from how the birds had affected Audubon. Throughout her whole encounter with the starlings, Dillard “didn’t move” at all. She was mesmerized from when the birds first appeared to her up until they had wiped out into the woods. As the birds disappeared into the trees, she “stood with difficulty” with her “spread lungs [roaring]” Ultimately, Dillard was appalled by the magnificence of the flocks in flight.

    Read More

  • The Displaced Person by Flannery O'Connor

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mrs. McIntyre is a divorced and widowed woman who has learned to depend only on her own strength during the day to day operating of her farm. She has created a comfortable world to exist in, and she fears change in that world. Mrs. McIntyre's lack of spiritual dimension stems from this constancy of her surroundings. She has never been challenged by her circumstances and was thus never forced to examine her spiritual beliefs and their depth. We can see her fear of change when she speaks of the peacocks. She if afraid to let them all d...

    Read More

  • ada

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cooper’s Hawk is medium sized and has rounded wings with a long rounded tail. Males are about 39cm and females are about 45cm. Younger birds have yellow legs, and adult birds have orange or red colored legs. The males are more brightly colored than females. Adult birds have dark gray-blue crown and it contrasts with their lighter colored napes. The tails have four straight alternating bands, dark and light brown in adults. The tip of the tail may appear white at times. Some of the areas that the population of Cooper’s ...

    Read More

  • A Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    " University Of Windsor Review 16.1 (1981): 92-101. Print. The. Laurence, Margaret. A.S.A. & M.S.A. A Bird in the House. Toronto, ON: McCelland & Stewart, 2010.

    Read More

  • The Cranes

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    The couple in the story is a couple that has been together a long time and persevered through life together. When they first see the whooping cranes the husband says “they are rare, not many left” (196). This is the point in the story where the first connection between the couple and the cranes are made. The rarity of the cranes symbolizes the rarity of the couple’s relationship. Although they have started developing anomalies in their health, with the husband he “can’t smoke, can’t drink martinis, no coffee, no candy” (197) ¬—they are still able to laugh with each other and appreciate nature’s beauty. Their relationship is a true oddity; filled with lasting love. However this lasting love for whooping cranes has caused some problems for the species. The whooping cranes are “almost extinct”; this reveals a problem of the couple. The rare love that they have is almost extinct as well. The wife worries about her children because the “kids never write” (197). This reveals the communication gap between the two generations, as well as the different values between the generations. These different values are a factor into the extinction of true love.

    Read More

  • Genetic Variation and Evolution by Selection

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sexual selection comes in two forms. One, is direct competition between males for access to females. The other is through the females’ choice among possible mates. (pg. 148) In both types of sexual selection, the males compete for the females. The classic sexual selection arguments that Darwin first presented, were improved when genetics discovered how significant sexual recombination was to genetic variability and speciation. In our class discussion we were asked if animals and humans selected their partners in different ways. I agreed as well as disagreed that we are different in our selection. Humans and animals essentially need the same things, and when looking for a partner there isn’t much of a difference. We all look for the partner with the physical aspects that appeal to another, and for protection, the strongest is typically the best mate in both animal and human worlds. But for humans, emotions come into play, and we also chose on personality. One can have all of the qualifications that are “necessary” in the choosing of a mate, but if their personality does not cohabitate with the other party member, they will not be chosen for a lifelong relationship. Nonetheless, emotional choses may be the only true difference we have to that of

    Read More

  • The Women of Absalom, Absalom!

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...-like symbols are fading--“black once but faded now to that fierce muted metallic green of old peacock feathers”--revealing the length and magnitude of the struggle (142). The contrast is apparent by the mention of the peacock feathers, which in their natural state are lively and radiant. There is an inability for the woman to reconcile with the man because “the indomitable woman-blood ignores the man’s world in which the blood kinsman shows the coverage or cowardice, the folly or lust or fear, for which his fellows praise or crucify him” (123). One must follow the male characteristics to the roots of their southern heritage to acknowledge the full tragic beauty of the female.

    Read More

  • The American Crow

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marzluff, J., Angell, T. & Elliot, B. (2013, May. - Jun.). Birds: Brains over brawn. Audubon, 115(3), 40-41.

    Read More

  • The Story of Wounded Knee

    2623 Words  | 6 Pages

    Smith, Gene. "Lost Bird." American Heritage 47.2 (1996): 38. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.

    Read More

  • The Positive Effects Of Natural Selection: The Origin Of Species

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Natural selection today is considered one of the main processes of evolution, and also thought to be one of the reasons that there is such great diversity between all of the organisms on the earth today (6). The Origin of Species written by Charles Darwin helps explain that for natural selection to occur there must be optimal conditions satisfied; the units must vary, the units must be able to be passed on from generation to generation, and also there must be competition for resources (6). Since all organisms differ and have different traits and genes some organisms will have an advantage over the others and also tend to produce more offspring (6). Lewontin believed that natural selection could be applied to genes, organisms, populations,

    Read More

  • Animal Welfare

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Izzo, Genevieve N., Meredith J. Bashaw, and John B. Campbell. "Enrichment and Individual Differences Affect Welfare Indicators in Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri Sciureus)." Journal of Comparative Psychology 125.3 (2011): 347-352. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

    Read More

  • Poultry Observation Essay

    401 Words  | 1 Pages

    The first observations relate to appearance, attitude, and locomotion (Linares and Martin, 2010). These authors mention that, while active, healthy poultry stand holding their head high, wings folded close to their body, and legs extended directly under their body. Bracke and Hopster (2006), mentioned that some species-unspecific behaviors are very beneficial to health, performed by several species, such as playing, walking, limb stretching and turning, standing up and lying down normally. Poultry walking ability may be improved by perching and walking on ramps (Mench et al., 2001). According to Linares and Martin (2010), preening is the act of smoothing out or cleaning the feathers with the beak. It is a common behaviour performed in group

    Read More

More about Peacock Characteristics and Genetic Traits for Natural Selection

Open Document