Kevin Omland’s work on the evolution of female was mentioned in Science News for his study of the evolution of female songs, the vocal anatomy of sage grouse and forest birds. Along with Jordan Price of St. Mary’s College, Omland and colleagues found that “by looking at the pattern of female singing on a family tree of 65 blackbird species, they concluded that the original blackbirds founding the lineage had female singers. As the lineage diversified into modern species, the capacity for female song disappeared at least 11 times.”
The study was discussed at the American Ornithologists’ Union 2009 meeting in August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Omland’s work was funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant on oriole evolution.
The article, “Vocal Abilities Lost, Found and Drowned Out,” ran August 17.
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