Dave Gammon, associate professor of biology, commented on recent findings involving whether cuckoos in Central and South America are mimicking the sounds of another animal.
An article in New Scientist focusing on new research involving cuckoos in Central and South America features the expertise of Dave Gammon, associate professor of biology at Elon.
The research explains that the birds could be mimicking the peccaries to help deceive predators. Gammon told reporter Sandrine Ceurstemont that while he’s intrigued by the research, he wonders whether the similarity could be explained by the animals producing similar sounds in response to some features of their shared environment.
“It will be interesting to see what additional evolutionary insights are made,” Gammon told the journal.
Read the full journal article here.
Gammon has received attention for his research of mockingbirds and the kinds of songs and sounds that the birds choose to imitate.