Natural Selection: Green Peacock

Before the 1800s, the prevailing view species in many societies was that one supreme
go create everything e!actly the way he wante them" But after #harles $arwin pu%lishe his
%ook On the Origin of Species in 18&', a new iea swept through the worl" (is theory, calle
natural selection, was that %eneficial mutations in an organism woul make that organism more
suite to survive in its environment" )his organism woul %e more likely to reprouce an over
time, more an more organisms woul have this mutation, an the ones without it woul ie off"
*ventually, most of the organisms in that population woul have this new trait" Peacocks, more
specifically green peacocks, are one e!ample of natural an se!ual selection" )he female peahens
preferre males with %right feathers over the ones with ull feathers, so the males with %righter
feathers ha more chances of mating with the females" )he %rightly colore peacocks got to mate
an pass their genes on, while the ull peacocks i not" )here are some isagreements on
whether or not the %right colors on peacocks are actually for mating purposes"
Peafowl are knows for their %rightly colore tail feathers" )he male peacocks have large
tail feathers that o not fully evelop until they are a%out three years ol" )hese tail feathers are
an iriescent %lue an green color with %rown an %lue spots that look like eyes" +hen
isplaye, the feathers are sprea out in a fan %ehin the peacock" ,emale peahens o not have
the same colorful feathers that the males have" )hey have ull %rown feathers %ecause they have
to take care of their young peachicks" )he peahens woul not %e a%le to camouflage an take
care of their young if they ha %rightly colore feathers" )hat woul make it easy for preators to
see them, so they have ull feathers to protect themselves"
Peafowl have a mating ritual similar to that of other %irs" )he male peacocks isplay
their feathers in front of the female peahen they want to mate with" )he female then ecies
whether or not she likes the male" ,emale peahens are often very picky a%out their mate, an will
choose the peacock with the %est feathers" )hey make their ecision %ase on the si-e, color, an
.uality of the male/s feathers" )hey will re0ect the male if they o not meet their stanars of tail
feathers"
Green peacocks are foun in Southeast 1sia" )he climate in Southeast 1sia is hot an
humi, with wet an ry perios cause %y seasonal rains calle monsoons" 2t is a mountainous
area with volcanoes" Peacocks are omnivorous animals that eat plants an animals" )hey eat
flowers an grain as well as small animals an insects" )heir preators are mostly meium si-e
animals such as raccoons, wil cats an ogs, an sometimes tigers" )hese are the preators that
the female peahens nee to protect against, which is why her coloring is not %right an colorful
like those of male peacocks"
Peafowl are one of the many e!amples of se!ual selection" )he female peahens select the
peacocks with %righter feathers to mate with" )hese peacocks will get the chance to pass on their
genes to the ne!t generations" But peacocks with ull feathers will not %e chosen %ecause the
female peahens will not like them as much as the %rightly colore peacocks" )hese peacocks will
not have any offspring, an therefore will not pass their genes on" )hey will ie off an their
gene that coes for ull feathers will ie off with them" Slowly, all peacocks have %right feathers
%ecause those are the ones that the females mate with an those are the ones that pass on their
genes" )he ull peacocks ie off until all the peacocks are have vivily colore feathers"
)here are some that %elieve the peacock/s %right feathers are not a result of se!ual
selection, %ut natural selection" )here are stuies that say females are inifferent to the .uality of
the males/ feathers" 3esearch one on free ranging peacocks in 4apan suggests that male
peacocks use their s.uawking souns to attract females rather than their tail feathers" 5thers say
that the feathers are not to attract mates, %ut to intimiate preators" )he eye spots on their tails
woul work like the eye spots on many other animals, such as %utterflies" )hey woul eceive
their preators into thinking that they are a larger an more aunting animal than they actually
are" But female peahens o not have %right feathers, an they woul nee it %ecause they nee to
take care of their young" 2f the tail feathers were a result of natural selection, it woul make sense
for the females to have it as well"
1 lot of research has %een one on the peacock/s tail feathers" 1 seven year stuy was
one in Shi-uoka, 4apan of wil peacocks in 2-u #actus Park" )hey stuie many peacocks with
ifferent length an num%er of eye spots on their train, %ut they i not fin a strong correlation
%etween the .uality of the males/ trains an their mating success" (owever, other researchers
have gathere ata that suggests the peacocks/ tail feathers o have a strong impact on their
mating"
Peacocks are %eautiful animals that are goo e!amples of se!ual selection" )hey are
known for their %right feathers, %ut only the males have %right feathers" )here are some
isagreements on the use of their tail feathers" )he stanar %elief is that the feathers attract
females for mating" 6et new research shows that it might not %e to raw in female peahens, %ut
to intimiate preators" But this trait woul %enefit peahens, even though they o not have this
aaptation" )o conclusively etermine what the peacock/s train is for, more research nees to %e
one on a variety of ifferent peacocks"