# evol: hanging by a rope off a cliff, the vibrant pigments of bird feathers to trace the mechanics of evolution

<< All organisms depend on input of exogenous compounds that cannot be internally produced. Gain and loss of such dependencies structure ecological communities and drive species’ evolution, yet the evolution of mechanisms that accommodate these variable dependencies remain elusive. (AA) show that historical cycles of gains and losses of external dependencies in avian carotenoid-producing networks are linked to their evolutionary diversification. >>

Alexander V. Badyaev, Alexander B. Posner, et al. Cycles of external dependency drive evolution of avian carotenoid networks. Nature Communications volume 10, Article number: 1596 Apr 8, 2019.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09579-y

<< Think about hanging by a rope off a cliff. With one rope, if it disappears, you die. If you have two and one fails, you get to live. But having a third safety rope allows enough stability that you can make something out of the first two - like a ladder - and thus take control of your trajectory while the stability lasts, >> Alexander Badyaev.

What the vibrant pigments of bird feathers can teach us about how evolution works. University of Arizona. Apr 24, 2019.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/uoa-wtv042419.php