Mystery of Small- and Large-Beaked Finches Solved at Princeton (IMAGE)

Princeton University

Mystery of Small- and Large-Beaked Finches Solved at Princeton

Caption

Black-bellied seedcrackers (Pyrenestes ostrinus) can have large (right) or small beaks on birds of the same size, a trait that had mystified researchers for years. Princeton biologist Bridgett vonHoldt found that the two morphs differ in a 300,000-base-pair chunk of DNA, apparently inherited as a unit, which includes a well-known growth-factor gene.

Credit

Dr. Tom Smith, UCLA

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