Can gulls smell out a good partner? Study suggests kittiwakes use body odor to assess genetically compatible mates
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 12:30
in Biology & Nature
Male and female kittiwakes smell different from each other, according to new research. Their work also suggests that the birds' body odors might signal the genetic makeup of individual birds, and could be used in mate choice to assess the genetic compatibility of potential partners.