In our lab today we learned how certain species are able to survive when they are best adapted for their environment. If they blend in they won't be eaten by predators. The fittest of a species are able to reproduce and pass their "fit" genes to their offspring. But as the environments change, the traits that made them so successful could now make them stand out like a sore thumb.
Male peahens, known as peacocks, have a very bright and ornate tail. The bigger the better. But this beautiful tail can cause the birds to be a little clumsy when flying and it doesn't help with camouflage. Their tails make them an easy target for predators. So why are the males so showy? Why is this an attractive trait? Why is this a trait that is selected for? How do you think peacocks got these tails?Refer to your class notes and watch this short PBS video, Tale of the Peacock, to help you write your response.
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The tail in male peacocks is a way of attracting females. The larger and longer the tail, the better chance a male has to getting a female to like him. Female peacocks care for their children more if they have breeded with a male peacock with a long, large, beautiful tail. However, if the tail is over-showy, it becomes a hinderance, and makes it easier for predators to catch the peacock.
ReplyDeleteI believe peacocks had their tails already, at the beginning of creation.
I think peacocks can open their tail when they are trying to attract mates. When a predator is nearby, they can fold them up again and blend in with their surroundings. Perhaps peacocks always had a tail but over time, they gained the ability to fold it up. Peacocks' tails may also have gotten bigger over time. The male peacocks with a smaller tail would not have attractced a mate as well as a male with a large tail. The genes for a laege tail would then be passed onto offspring.
ReplyDeleteMale peacocks are so showy in order to attract female peacocks. The larger the tail, the stronger the male. Stronger males mean stronger genes, allowing the offspring a better chance at survival later in life. Although the flashy tails do not blend in with the surrounding environment and make the peacock easy prey, the colorful tails of the male will forever be needed to continue in the peacock population.
ReplyDeleteBecause a male peacock's tail poses disadvantages and is an essential handicap, some biologists think that when female peacocks see such a tail, they think "this male must be very strong to be able to survive with such a handicap" and are attracted to the male. This is called the handicap theory.
ReplyDeleteCharles Darwin actually said that the tail of a male peacock "just makes me sick". Because the tail gives the peacock no specific advantages and is, in some ways, a handicap, it goes against Darwin's theory of natural selection.
The males are very showy because they want to get a mate and reproduce. This is an attractive trait because it catches the eye of the females nearby and it makes them look bigger, so if they look bigger the females think he would be able to protect their young more. I think that male peacocks were collorful but then evolved into having a bigger tail for breeding reasons
ReplyDeletePeacock's tails can be helpful and harmful to the animal's fitness. The elaborate tail helps the bird attract a mate to reproduce, a vital part of fitness, but can be cumbersome when trying to hide or escape from a predator. I think that natural selection played a major role in the development of the peacock tail. A bird with a tail too small or dull does not get a mate (never getting to pass his 'small tailed genes on), but a bird with a tail too big and bold gets caught by predators. Natural Selection eventually works its way through the population to produce the peacock tail we know today.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt male peacocks use their beautiful tails to attract the opposite sex, unless homosexuality exists even between peafowl. I believe peacocks have survived this long because they might have endured predators in their environment through the use of their tails - since they might have appeared as flowers or leaves - in other words, "camouflaging with the environment." This is rather weird for humans because the sex with the attractive traits is the female, and in this case, it is the male. The bigger, more beautiful tail might help the peacock attract a female, but I doubt that it will help him evade a hungry predator that just spotted him.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the male peacocks attract female peacocks with their tale. The more colorful and bigger the tail is, the more attraction the peacock gets. Peacocks would most likely have a hard time surviving in their environment because of the colors of their feathers are very noticeable and there isn't much variation to the plants in it's environment. Perhaps, the tails can be used for defense.
ReplyDeleteObviously natural selection played a major role in the development of the peacock tail. If a peacock had a tail that was too small or dull it wouldn’t attract a mate, and the peacocks with the larger tail would get a mate and be able to pass on the genes to its offspring. I also think that there is another reason for having such a big beautiful tale and I think the reason is for it to blend into the environment better, a type of camouflage.
ReplyDeleteThis blog tells us about how male Peacoks use there big and colorful tails to grab the attention of females. When they see a female they spread out their huge, attention grabbing tail, in hope that they will find themselves a mate. Females are only attracted to the stronger or more "fit" peacoks, so therefore pretty soon most of the male peacoks will be stronger. Even though these large tails are not helpful for camoflauging or defense against predators, they are definatley needed in order to keep the peacock population at a good number.
ReplyDeleteThere probably used to be peacocks with showy tails and ones without. Even though the big tails make the peacocks clumsy and off balance, the size and the color are beautiful. The female peacocks were attracted to the ones with showy tails, so eventually, through reproduction, male peacocks all had showy tails.
ReplyDeleteThe pecocks use their beautiful, big tails to attract mates. Although the tails make it harder for the peacocks to fly, they can probably fold down their tails to hide from predators. In the past, I think there used to be a variety of peacocks, including peacocks without tails or small tails. The females looked for the peacocks with the biggest tails and mated with them. Over time, the peacocks without big and showy tails died off, and as we learned about Darwin's Theory of Evolution, the peacocks that found mates and reproduced survived.
ReplyDelete