Podcast 332 - Bird Peepin'

The gang discusses two papers that investigate phenotypic plasticity. The first paper reviews the pathways by which phenotype can be plastic, and the second paper looks at plasticity of breeding times in urban vs rural bird populations. Meanwhile, James manages a basement, Amanda names the papers, and Curt makes allegations.   Up-Goer Five (James Edition): Today the group look at two papers that are interested in how animals change because of the type of place they live. The first paper is looking at different ways that animals can be changed, either by being changed as they grow or by changing things so that while the animal does not change right now its babies are different. The paper talks about how important the little bits that escape the brain to tell your body how to grow and what to make are and that many of the changes are caused by the different numbers of things escaping the brain because of the different places that the animal lives. The other paper is looking at small angry animals that fly and seeing when they lay small round quiet babies in different places. They look at when the small round quiet babies first appear in places that are built by people and places that are built by trees and also look at how this time has changed over several years during which it has gotten hotter. They find that most small angry animals that fly have their small round quiet babies earlier in places that are built by people, and also that as things have gotten hotter that also makes them have their small round quiet babies earlier. The further up they are though it seems like the time between having small round quiet babies in place built by people and places built by trees is not as much.   References: Seebacher, Frank, and Alexander G. Little. "Mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change." Biological Reviews 101.2 (2026): 713-734. Cuchot, Paul, et al. "Facing rising temperatures in urban environments: the role of phenological plasticity in an urban-dwelling passerine, Parus major." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 293.2068 (2026).