How did the morphology of sparrows sampled from deciduous ecosystems compare to those from coniferous areas?
Answer
They tended to be larger
Morphological data provided support for the genetic partitioning observed based on habitat type. Birds inhabiting deciduous ecosystems were consistently observed to possess a larger body size compared to their counterparts residing in coniferous areas. This difference is hypothesized to be driven by ecological factors, such as potentially greater invertebrate abundance in deciduous stands, which could favor selection for larger body sizes over successive generations in that specific resource environment.
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