A new study done by animal behavior scientists has proved deeper insight into how peacocks attract females to mate. It has been known for awhile that the males fan out their brightly colored tails to get females to mate with them, but this study shows how exact this process really is. Male peacocks make an elaborate display of shaking their feathers and rattling their tail that can go on for hours. Birds that “rattle” literally shake their short tail feathers to make their fan rattle, producing a vibration that registers at the frequency of 25.6 hertz. This frequency varies from bird to bird but stays relatively consistent in the same species. During the shaking of tails, the eyespots on the fan stay still thanks to tiny hooks that lock the eyespot barbs together, Physicist Suzanne Kane of Haverford College in Pennsylvania explains. “It acts like a single mass at the top of the feather.” Previously, studies have shown that males with better eyespots on their tail are more successful at mating, but this new discovery of rattling may mean that muscle power plays a role as well.
This new discovery is important because it gives us information about the mating rituals of different animals. Many people assume that the males don’t do much to persuade a female, but this study clearly disproves that claim. There is actually definitive science to back up what many dismiss as a trivial action to be a fact-based strategy employed by males.
I found this article on sciencenews.com. The website was pretty legitimate, and they had many interesting articles from which to choose. I chose this one because the title really jumped out to me and there was a video attached as well, which made it easy to understand.
"Peacocks Twerk to Shake Their Tail Feathers." Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <https://www.sciencenews.org/article/peacocks-twerk-shake-their-tail-feathers>.
Mallory, this is a very interesting choice for an article. I (not even joking) for the longest time did not know that male peacocks were the ones with the big tails. Once I learned this I understood that males used their tails to seduce females. However, I had no idea that the males actually shake their tails to make a frequency that also attracts the females. I thought this was extremely interesting and actually made a lot of sense for their mating. You also did a very good job at integrating the quote from the physicist into your summary to add the expert opinion on the eyespots. Lastly, I think that you did a good job explaining the reliability of the article and the website that published it. This gave me comfort in the facts of the article and therefore your analysis and summary of it.
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to see a couple of sentences on sexual selection, because this is very important to the way male peacocks look. Their large, colorful tails make them more obvious to being preyed on, but they have these tails because it makes them more likely to reproduce because the females prefer them. This concept is crucial to understanding peacocks and their mating patterns. I also would have liked a little more on the importance of this discovery. While you did state that it disproves the idea that male animals do not really work for females attention, I think that there is more to the importance of this discovery in understanding the mating patterns of peacocks.
I thought this was a very well done piece and I definitely learned a lot. I would like to look into how the frequency of the shaking of the tail feathers affects their success in mating. I would definitely like to learn more about this.
ey Mall!! I thought your article on how peacocks attract one another was so interesting and a topic I’ve never heard much about. You included a ton of details like that the birds rattle at about 25.6 hertz which made you argument stronger. I also enjoyed the way you used humor to compare peacocks shaking their feathers to humans twerking. You included an interesting point about how most people think females attract the males, but in this species it is different.
ReplyDeleteYour review was great overall, but there were just two places you could improve. First I would make it a bit longer, I think you could have had more of an introduction. Second, I would add your opinion on the information because I didn’t get to hear a lot of what you had to say.
The most interesting thing I learned from your article is that peacocks have tiny hooks on their feathers and attached to one another holding them all together. This is so cool because I always wondered how they stuck together. Great job!!
Ellie Briskin AP Biology C Even
ReplyDeleteApril 28, 2016 Current Event 19 Comment
"Peacocks Twerk to Shake Their Tail Feathers." Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. .
Awesome job with this review, Mallory! First off, you summarized everything clearly and seemingly with ease, covering all of the main points of the article without including any extraneous details. Not only that, but you were able to establish a connection to how this topic affects human beings today, something that many people struggle with in these current events; you helped the reader see how important this revelation is for science. Thirdly, your writing style was very easy to read and follow, yet remained extremely informative. This is an extremely hard quality to find in nonfiction writings, which are usually either much oversimplified or much overcomplicated; this hints at a real knack you have for writing intellectual reviews!
Mallory, it's so hard to think of any area which could benefit from improvement! But if anything, you may benefit from some more outside information in general. I’m still not clear on how exactly scientists were able to study this phenomenon. This took away from my ability to understand the context that this article was written under and the conditions that spur the author to make certain claims. Secondly, although your writing on its own, Mallory, was great, the professionalism of the article could have been enhanced with the inclusion of more quotes. Although this is overall not too significant, the use of more scientific quotes would have legitimized your argument and made it stronger.
But on the whole, Mallory, this review was astounding. Your writing and analysis blew me away. It really taught me a lot about the mating patterns of birds, a topic I was aware of before but not very knowledgeable about. After reading this, I'll be sure to pay closer attention to similar articles pertaining to what different mammals do to attract females. Of course, discoveries in this topic also force me to remember that scientifically, there is always room for improvement, and that no progress in any field is ever truly completed; we have some solid groundwork now, but we must continue to work towards more concrete understandings of our fellow mammals. Overall, I chose this article because of my lack of knowledge of the topic, and am extremely glad that this is the one I read. Thanks, Mallory, for giving me such a great read!
Nice job, Mal!!! I really enjoyed reading your current event! One thing that you did a really good job on is leading off your report with a short and simple sentence that gave an overview about what your article was going to be about. This drew your readers in and made them want to continue. A second thing that I think you did a nice job in is addressing the main ideas of the article and easily explain how the male peacock dance is very complex. It was interesting to read about how this new information helped further the current knowledge of how the complexity of a male peacock’s tail attracts a mate. A third part of your current event that was well done was your overall summary of information. The appropriate amount of background was given, without any repetitive facts.
ReplyDeleteWhile you wrote a very good report on “Peacocks Twerk to Shake Their Tail Feathers”, there were two areas in which I thought you could improve. The first is that by giving a direct quote from the author or scientists involved in the research would strengthen the argument that the information presented in the article is important to society. A second thing that I think could be improved is in your second paragraph and third paragraph, a personal connection to the topic or animals would have been interesting to hear. It is always interesting to hear personal opinions in current events.
From your report, I learned new information not just on peacock mating rituals, but how this new information could relate to other animals. I chose to read your article because the title caught my eye. “Twerking” is a very popular dance move now, so it is funny to me how scientists are picking up on modern culture in their research. This will change my perception of the world because it showed me that even though the tail feathers were very pretty to look at, they serve a greater purpose. This statement can be applied to many other parts of life.
Mallory,
ReplyDeleteI loved your review for a number of reasons. First, you had an intriguing hook to start off your review. By saying, “A new study done by animal behavior scientists has proved deeper insight into how peacocks attract females to mate,” you really caught my attention making me want to find out more about the peacock mating process. Another area I thought you did really well in was keeping your review clear and concise. One specific spot that I thought you presented especially clearly was the part in which you actually discussed the specific actions that the peacocks took to attract their mates. Here, you said, “Male peacocks make an elaborate display of shaking their feathers and rattling their tail that can go on for hours. Birds that “rattle” literally shake their short tail feathers to make their fan rattle, producing a vibration that registers at the frequency of 25.6 hertz.” This is very clear, and it provides a specific, accurate number, 25.6 hertz, that represents the frequency that the birds “rattle” their tail feathers. One last thing I liked about your article was the way you made the information you were presenting sound credible by citing a harvard professor. For instance, at one point in your review, you wrote, “During the shaking of tails, the eyespots on the fan stay still thanks to tiny hooks that lock the eyespot barbs together, Physicist Suzanne Kane of Haverford College in Pennsylvania explains. “It acts like a single mass at the top of the feather.” In this citation, you made this somewhat unbelievable fact about the way the peacocks shake their tails believable. Overall, your review was amazing.
While there were countless things I liked about your review, you also had some room for improvement. One thing I didn’t like about your review was that you undermined the efforts of males to capture the eye of females. For example, at one point, you said that “Many people assume that the males don’t do much to persuade a female, but this study clearly disproves that claim.” When I read this I was confused about who you were talking about because I don’t know anyone who thinks it takes no effort for a male to mate with a female. I think you should have represented the general population in a better manner when you said something like that. Another reason I didn’t like your review was because I found that some of the research you presented seemed to be very wishy-washy. For instance, in your review, you said, “Previously, studies have shown that males with better eyespots on their tail are more successful at mating, but this new discovery of rattling may mean that muscle power plays a role as well.” I feel that this sounded like you were trying to make an argument about the role of muscle power, but didn’t really support it. This devalued some of the other parts of you review. To fix this, I would have presented ideas like this one in with stronger sentence structure and more support for your argument. Other than these two reasons, your review was spot-on.
This review was quite informative, and it did a wonderful job presenting the process by which peacocks mate. Because of this, I am now able to understand just how this mating process goes down. The reason I chose this article review out of all the others is because of its catchy title. When I saw the title "Peacocks Twerk to Shake Their Tail Feathers," I was immediately hooked. I personally find peacocks quite beautiful, and the title was also very funny, which compelled me to read more. This review also made me consider mating as a whole. I now may think twice about what moves I put on a girl… maybe I should start shaking my tail feathers to further my case. This review has changed the way I look and think about my how mating occurs and should occur forever.
I think Mallory did an excellent job reviewing this article, and I enjoyed many aspects of it. Specifically, I think she did very well in keeping the review concise and getting right to the point. This made the review so much better because it did not include much useless information that could potentially bore the reader. Another thing I enjoyed about this review was how well Mallory integrated quotes and kept the flow of the review. One final thing I enjoyed about this review was how well addressed the main ideas of the article and explained how the male peacock dance is very complex.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this was a great review, I feel that there are a couple of things that could be improved upon. One thing that I think would make this review even better would be if maybe Mallory direct quotes from the scientists. Another thing that would’ve been nice is if maybe Mallory went into a little more depth about her own opinion about the topic.
I was very intrigued by this article and review immediately, for just the title brought me in initially, and I was even more interested as I read the review. I also thought that the fact that peacocks “twerk” was pretty funny.
"Peacocks Twerk to Shake Their Tail Feathers." Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. .
I thought that this article choice and review were very well done. I thought that the summary was concise in describing the dance with the brightly colored tails. I also thought that the summary was well done because it didn’t just give a description of the rattle movement, but described the science behind these movements; the importance of the eyespots on the tail which leads to more success in finding a mate, and thus mating. I also thought that Mallory accurately described the importance of this article in describing the male's role in attracting the female, but also better understanding the significance behind the male's feathers and dance in the mating process.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review was very well done, I think one area of improvement could have been in better describing the measures taken by scientists to study these behaviors. I think a better description of the study and maybe some quotes from these scientists could haven enhances the review. I also thought that there could have been more background about peacocks, their tails and the colors. I also thought that there was a lack of personal opinion. I thought you could have added more about what you personally gained from reading the article, and possibly any connections you drew from it.
I was very intrigued to read this article based off the title. I thought is sounded interesting, but it also reminded me of the waggle dance performed by bees. I thought it was interesting to see how the dance performed by the peacocks was used to find a mate, while the bees used their dance to point others in the direction of food. Overall, I thought that this gave me a better idea of the purpose behind the bright colored feathers; although their brightness increases predation risk, the feathers are essential for mating, and are thus chosen through sexual selection. Overall, I thought it was very well done and helped connect form to function.