🌿 Naturepublished today
Why cliff-nesting seabirds lay distinctly pear-shaped eggs
Common murres breed in dense colonies on bare, precarious cliff ledges high above the crashing ocean, building no nests to hold their clutch. Their single egg has an extreme pyriform, or pear-shaped, contour. If kicked or caught by an ocean gale, the egg spins tightly in a small circle around its tapered point rather than rolling straight over the sheer drop.
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