About this episode

This episode explores how colour polymorphism in Kākāpō can reveal insights into their evolutionary history.

Who new that one different shade could tell us so much about a birds evolutionary history.... References: Ducatez, S., Giraudeau, M., Thebaud, C., & Jacquin, L. (2017). Colour polymorphism is associated with lower extinction risk in birds. Global Change Biology, 23(8), 3030-3039. Ruzicka, F., Zwoinska, M. K., Goedert, D., Kokko, H., Li Richter, X. Y., Moodie, I. R., ... & Connallon, T. (2026). A century of theories of balancing selection. Biological Reviews, 101(2), 804-825. Urban, ...

People in this episode

Host: Matt Ross

Topics covered

• evolutionary biology
• bird conservation
• colour polymorphism
• extinction risk
• Kākāpō

Keywords

• Kākāpō
• colour polymorphism
• evolution
• extinction risk
• bird species

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Global Change Biology, Biological Reviews

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