What evolutionary pressure typically leads to ground-dwelling birds, like the Okinawa Rail, losing the capability for flight on islands?
Answer
Few native predators.
The inability of the Okinawa Rail to fly is cited as a classic manifestation of island evolution driven by the environmental pressures present in isolation. On many isolated islands, the native fauna evolves in the absence of major terrestrial predators that typically exert selective pressure on birds to maintain the ability to fly for escape. Without this predatory threat, the energy expenditure required to maintain flight capabilities is no longer favored by natural selection, leading to the evolutionary loss of that trait over generations, resulting in ground-dwelling specialists like the Okinawa Rail.
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