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Nightingales lose wing length (1 Viewer)

I think it's legit, though I'm not so sure I agree with the conclusions. As you hint Andy, there's nothing amusing or wacky to suggest it's a 1st April joke!
 
I think it's legit, though I'm not so sure I agree with the conclusions. As you hint Andy, there's nothing amusing or wacky to suggest it's a 1st April joke!

Same. I googled one of the scientists named, and he is legit, but the entire premise of shorter wing length being a response to global warming has little face validity.
 
Same. I googled one of the scientists named, and he is legit, but the entire premise of shorter wing length being a response to global warming has little face validity.

I can only think of the validity if the birds stopped migrating, or didn't migrate as far. But this isn't the reasoning he uses apparently.

I know of no records of Nightingale in the WP in the winter (happy to be proved wrong) but good luck in finding one in the winter or even when they have stopped singing.
 
Suspect this one might be a 1 April special? The link to the article in The Auk is dead.

Both scientists have published a fair bit of work. Does anybody have the title of the paper or the doi...? I'd like to read their rationale in full before commenting on the findings.

By the way, Breitbart is in full apocalyptic rage about this paper, commenters calling for the scientists to be barred from any further work for daring to assert that climate change is real. Others are calling for The Auk to be shut down... ...and those are but two of the less extreme commnets...:-C:-C:-C
MJB
 
Both scientists have published a fair bit of work. Does anybody have the title of the paper or the doi...? I'd like to read their rationale in full before commenting on the findings.

By the way, Breitbart is in full apocalyptic rage about this paper, commenters calling for the scientists to be barred from any further work for daring to assert that climate change is real. Others are calling for The Auk to be shut down... ...and those are but two of the less extreme commnets...:-C:-C:-C
MJB
Nothing listed here for the latest issue:
https://academic.oup.com/auk/issue/137/1

Suspect it may be a paper in prep.? There's also a bit about it in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...due-to-shorter-wings-caused-by-climate-crisis
Of course breitbart etc will be livid because of evolution, as well as climate change . . . a double whammy for them :-O
 
Nothing listed here for the latest issue:
https://academic.oup.com/auk/issue/137/1

Suspect it may be a paper in prep.? There's also a bit about it in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...due-to-shorter-wings-caused-by-climate-crisis
Of course breitbart etc will be livid because of evolution, as well as climate change . . . a double whammy for them :-O

So what made you think it was an April fool Nutty, never even occured to me or most others?
 
Because the link given didn't link to anything :t:


Have to admit, I'm still a mite dubious, until I see hard evidence the paper actually exists ;)

But it's not remotely comical or widely appealing enough, most of 'Joe public' wouldn't even realise they'd been duped if they had been?
 
It is quite plain: the Nightingale is evolving into a flightless bird unique to Britain.

Extrapolating the current trend, within 500 years or so, Nightingales in Britain will become as flightless as kiwis. This completely follows the current scientific reasoning. We all read in countless climate papers, that the short-term trends can be simply extrapolated over time with no regard to time brackets. There are examples of flightless songbirds on islands. It is also documented, that flightlessness in island birds can evolve very fast (the White-throated Rail on Aldabra became flightless in few millenia). Since flightless bird cannot cross the English Channel, the gene flow with mainland will be broken, and Britain will get a new endemic species, as valid as the Scottish Crossbill.

:king: ;)
 
It is quite plain: the Nightingale is evolving into a flightless bird unique to Britain.

Extrapolating the current trend, within 500 years or so, Nightingales in Britain will become as flightless as kiwis. This completely follows the current scientific reasoning. We all read in countless climate papers, that the short-term trends can be simply extrapolated over time with no regard to time brackets. There are examples of flightless songbirds on islands. It is also documented, that flightlessness in island birds can evolve very fast (the White-throated Rail on Aldabra became flightless in few millenia). Since flightless bird cannot cross the English Channel, the gene flow with mainland will be broken, and Britain will get a new endemic species, as valid as the Scottish Crossbill.

:king: ;)
:clap::clap:
 
It is quite plain: the Nightingale is evolving into a flightless bird unique to Britain.

Extrapolating the current trend, within 500 years or so, Nightingales in Britain will become as flightless as kiwis. This completely follows the current scientific reasoning. We all read in countless climate papers, that the short-term trends can be simply extrapolated over time with no regard to time brackets. There are examples of flightless songbirds on islands. It is also documented, that flightlessness in island birds can evolve very fast (the White-throated Rail on Aldabra became flightless in few millenia). Since flightless bird cannot cross the English Channel, the gene flow with mainland will be broken, and Britain will get a new endemic species, as valid as the Scottish Crossbill.

:king: ;)
3:)3:)3:)


Except the research was done in Spain o:D ;)
 
It is quite plain: the Nightingale is evolving into a flightless bird unique to Britain.

the gene flow with mainland will be broken, and Britain will get a new endemic species, as valid as the Scottish Crossbill.

:king: ;)

You mean Short-winged Crossbill I think.
 
Speaking of Aprils fools day, I am not aware of a prank that was pulled by any of the media outlets which would be a first in my life time.

I did say to my wife, I wonder which way they'll jump, would they not publish anything on grounds of appropriateness or would they publish in an attempt to raise spirits?
 
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