How much a swan fears humans is part genetically determined , new enquiry has revealed . Moreover , fowl whose genetics makes them less nervous in the face of our attack are more likely to make their plate in urban park , demonstrating that nature and nurture interact to modify responses to humans .
Like most hazardous birds , Australia ’s black swans ( Cygnus atratus ) take escape when human get too close . bird living in urban sphere will let people get a wad close before they resolve to earn out – a necessity if they are not to be incessantly on the wing . Dr. Wouter van Dongenof Victoria University , Melbourne , told IFLScience that this difference has ordinarily been attributed to conditioning , with the metropolis - dwelling swans slowly getting used to having people around .
However , van Dongen thought it worth investigating to see if there was any genetic element to the flight initiation distance ( FID ) , or how close humans can get before a fowl take off . He measured the FID for swans at Albert Park Lake , which dwell close to Melbourne ’s center and compared this with swan living near the outskirt of Melbourne .
The differences reported inBioMed Centralwere stark ; the average FID of an urban swan was within 13 meters ( 43 feet ) , yet on the periphery it was 96 meters ( 315 foot ) . More interesting was the differences within the groups . The DRD4 gene has been colligate with boldness behavior in other metal money and van Dongen found that birds with the most coarse edition were unforced to allow human race importantly closer in either surround than their feller with rarified versions .
It ’s not quite ablack swan result , where something whole unprecedented occurs , but when van Dongen liken the two solidification of swans ' genomes he see an unexpected difference . Sixty percent of those living outside Melbourne carried the most common version of the DRD4 , while among the Albert Park swans the fig grow to 89 percent .
In theory natural selection could be causing the more flighty versions of the gene to die out at the lake . As van Dongen said to IFLScience , live at the lake provide the swans with “ admittance to food for thought [ even if much of it is bad for them ] , possible protection from predators , belike more breeding winner . ” However , van Dongen thinks that , give the large areas over which the swan move around , it is more likely the birds are sort themselves , with those genetically predisposed to bravery more likely to settle at the lake .
Besides telling us something about the part of genetic science in personality van Dongen said in astatementhe hopes the finding will have practical applications , “ Particularly for the introduction of animal bred in captivity , which could in future be screen for genetic constitution that are associated with wariness , allowing them to be released to a [ worthy ] location . ”
