Birds, do your math: The pattern of feathers on
the chest of your potential mate might provide a good sense of his or her
overall health and well-being. In a new study, researchers find that a single
number that describes the complexity of those configurations, a parameter
called the fractal dimension, is linked to whether a bird has a strong immune
system or is malnourished. (Fractals, possibly most well-known from pop art
posters of the 1970s, are incredibly complex patterns that have the same amount
of detail at all levels of scale, from the huge to the microscopic.) When
scientists restricted the food of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa,
inset), the
feather patterns (details in main image) on their chests had a lower fractal
dimension than those sported by their well-fed colleagues, they report
online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The
food-restricted birds, on average, weighed 13% less than their well-fed
colleagues and had weaker immune systems, which makes fractal dimension an
easily recognizable sign of a potential mate's health and vitality, the
researchers contend.
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