Brain mass explains prey size selection better than beak, gizzard and body size in a benthivorous duck species.

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Karsten Laursen, Anders Pape Møller
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Science; Q; The Beak; Somateria mollissima
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248615; https://doaj.org/article/14eb2dc461154befb3f1c63a74a28658

Prey size selection in some bird species is determined by the size of the beak. However, we assumed for bird species swallowing whole prey that a cognitive process may be involved. As cognitive feature, brain mass was used. We hypothesized that the mass of the brain was more strongly positively corr...