Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Scientists Study the Locomotion of Great Tits

Last year, researchers Els Atema, Arie van Noordwijk, and Simon Verhulst published the results of their study of Great Tits (
Parus Major) in the journal Molecular Ecology. I bring it to your attention because I know that Neatorama readers take a great interest in this topic.
The scientists wanted to know if adding weight to a Great Tit, and thus increasing the physical workload it must endure while moving, would alter the telomere regions of its DNA sequence. They added a backpack weighing 0.9 grams to these birds and tracked their locomotion. At the end of their study, they found no significant changes to the attrition of the birds' telomeres. Perhaps the birds were physically stressed by the added weight, but they seemed to bounce back just fine.
Yeah, we know what you 
thought you knew what this post was about from the title ... surprise!

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The Drift

Welcome to today's issue of Carolina Naturally 'Nuff Said! Today is June 21, 2023 Today is:   World Music Day On This Day In History...