One to ovoid? Using 3-D printing, researchers can study what causes birds to reject eggs with greater precision
Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - 06:00
in Biology & Nature
Old-school field work meets cutting-edge technology! For decades, researchers have been making artificial eggs out of plaster, wood, and other materials to test how birds identify and reject the eggs that invading "brood parasites" sometimes sneak into their nests. But these methods have many limitations, and a new study published in the open-access journal PeerJ is the first to test the usefulness of 3D printed eggs for research on egg rejection.