Lark-buttonquail as scaled-down ostrich
Ortyxelos meiffrenii photo © Nicolas Huet le Jeune
The lark-buttonquail of the Sahel – a diminutive seed- and termite-eater hardly noticeable even on bare ground – resembles the coexisting ostrich in its life-strategy. In both birds, the male is responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the offspring, which reach adulthood extremely rapidly in compensation for an extremely small brain relative to body size. Such similarity is surprising considering that the lark-buttonquail weighs less than each of the eyeballs of the ostrich.
Robin and the Honey Badger, 22 March 2016
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