27-year study finds female birds often die younger than males
A 27-year study by UCLA researchers found that female birds have a 12.4% lower survival rate than males across 35 species. This finding contradicts the common pattern observed in mammals, where females typically live longer.
Why it matters
This research challenges existing biological assumptions about sex-based survival differences and provides new insights into avian evolutionary biology.
Female mammals usually live longer than males, but a 27-year study of North American birds has found the opposite pattern in birds.Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) analyzed more than 563,000 bird-banding records and found that adult female birds had a 12.4% lower survival rate than adult males across 35 bird species.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in