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

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Laursen, Karsten, Møller, Anders Pape
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2021
• Subjects: Research Article; The Beak; Somateria mollissima
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8009388/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33784342; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248615

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...