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Do Birds Freeload on African Mammals? - Brief Article
Current Science - September 8, 2000
CAMBRIDGE, England--"You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." In a nutshell, that's what biologists mean when they say that two species have a mutualistic relationship. Both species benefit by living together.
For years, biologists have assumed that many birds and large mammals in Africa have mutualistic relationships. The birds ride on the mammals and pick ticks off their hides. The birds get food and the mammals get pest control.
However, new research by Paul Weeks, a Cambridge University student, suggests such relationships might not be at all mutualistic. For his experiment, which he conducted in the African country of Zimbabwe, Weeks divided a herd of oxen in two. He kept red-billed oxpecker birds from landing on one-half of the herd. A month later, he found no increase in ticks on the birdless oxen.
Not only that, but any birdless oxen that had wounds on their skin experienced faster healing because the oxpeckers weren't around to pick at the wounds, said Weeks.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Weekly Reader Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
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