Darwin's finches treat their feathers with a natural repellent.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cimadom A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5056383 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Darwin's finches treat their feathers with a natural repellent.
Cimadom Arno A Causton Charlotte C Cha Dong H DH Damiens David D Fessl Birgit B Hood-Nowotny Rebecca R Lincango Piedad P Mieles Alejandro E AE Nemeth Erwin E Semler Elizabeth M EM Teale Stephen A SA Tebbich Sabine S
Scientific reports 20161010
Darwin's finches are highly innovative. Recently we recorded for the first time a behavioural innovation in Darwin's finches outside the foraging context: individuals of four species rubbed leaves of the endemic tree Psidium galapageium on their feathers. We hypothesised that this behaviour serves to repel ectoparasites and tested the repellency of P. galapageium leaf extracts against parasites that negatively affect the fitness of Darwin's finches, namely mosquitoes and the invasive hematophago ...[more]
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