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Am I crazy? This doesn't actually say anything about their guidance system? Just that its "genetic"? > In a groundbreaking new study published in the journal S
by hailwren 3mo ago
Am I crazy? This doesn't actually say anything about their guidance system? Just that its "genetic"?
> In a groundbreaking new study published in the journal Science, researchers have found that a combination of genetics and environment determines where migratory birds fly to for the winter.
- BetterThanSober 3mo agoIf it is mainly genetic then a bird raised in captivity should be able to track the route somewhat accurately, that's groundbreaking
- lioeters 3mo agoI guess the "guidance system" is not located in any organ or individual bird, but as a kind of accumulated collective knowledge. Perhaps the term was misleading, since it's a metaphor relating to a mechanism in individual airplane, rocket, etc. Anyway, fascinating to learn more about these lovely creatures.
- nomel 2mo agoWe used to call this "instinct".
- xg15 3mo agoYeah, the discovery seems more to me that some kind of genetic/biological guidance system must exist, because otherwise the observations would be hard to explain - but it doesn't tell how that guidance system works (though I'd really like to know now...)