Blog Post Module 9
Option 1:
Even though most people I come into contact with think my mustache is repulsive when I decide to grow it out, I love my facial hair and in the honor of "No Shave November" coming up, I have decided to write about how a certain organism's facial hair may be beneficial for survival. The Inca Tern is an attractive, medium-sized bird found along the Pacific coast of South America and unlike myself, they can actually use the power of their mustache to win mates. Sporting this whiteish upper lip accessory is a sign of good health and vitality to potential female mates. In fact, the condition of their mouser actually represents the condition of the Tern, so when a female sees a nice-looking lip caterpillar they immediately relate it to a higher fitness and this leads to further reproduction of the species.The mustachio is not male exclusive, it’s shared by the females as well. In addition, scientists have found that Inca Terns with longer, more vibrant snot mops actually mate more often and have larger offspring, which is beneficial for fighting off predators and other birds scavenging for the same food. 
Shown above is the handsome Inca Tern with a striking handlebar mustache!
Very funny, that was a great blog! It was comical but still gave us something to learn about. I had never heard or seen these birds before. It is interesting how some species are able to mate better based on one simple trait. The size of body makes sense for mating but its interesting how a mustache would influence mating. Overall great blog, gave me a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm most impressed with how many different terms for mustache you were able to come up with. This was a great blog post and fun to read about these birds with their fantastic facial hair. It is really interesting how these different traits can show up and be so beneficial to the fitness of the organisms.
ReplyDeleteHi Casey,
ReplyDeleteThis reads like a comedy skit in my opinion, excellent work! I think it's always fun to see animals that have traits that so startlingly resemble cultural elements of people. I wonder if these birds "think" about the look of their mustaches in the same way people do? This seems like a good example of the sexy son hypothesis: mustachey girls loving on mustachey boys so they have extra mustachey kids (that just so happen to also be really good at surviving.) Great work :)