Re: latent mutation

From: Van oost Kenneth (kennethvanoost@belgacom.net)
Date: Fri 09 May 2003 - 18:51:59 GMT

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    ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray Recchia" <rrecchia@mail.clarityconnect.com>
    > I was thinking of something as a sort of precursor to polyphenism.
    > Polyphenism requires (in our hypothetical) not only genes for spots and
    > plain grey, but also genes for recognizing the environmental difference
    and
    > switching on or off different versions in appropriate circumstances, but
    in
    > the particular example I was thinking of that might be what was occurring.
    > But it's all a bit off the beaten path of cultural evolution anyway.

    Hi all, This may be of interest, related in some way to this thread....

    " Birds in our towns forget their songs "

    Birds which built their nest in a noisy environment, forget how to sing. Especially birds nesting near very busy highways or building- sites, are doomed to loose their talents. From studies done in Austria, it seems that robins, wrens and black- birds can 't beat the noise of the cities. Robins from the city sing less than their congeners from the country. Especially young birs are the victims. They can 't hear properly their parents and eachother and so do not learn the songs. Problems will arise in the near future. Males seduce the females with their diligent singing. If those birds forget how to sing they will go exinct.

    Personal notes,

    If thus, like Ray suggested in his initial posting, if those birds were to be released in a more quitely environment would their youngster ' remerber ' the songs sang by their parents some- where in the past !? Would thus the spot of singing the songs re- appear when youngsters were to be born in more rural environments !?

    Would thus the mechanism/ process of singing the songs be re- activated if generations to come went back to more rural environments !?

    Regards,

    Kenneth

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