Research

Racing pigeons have been selectively bred to find their way home quickly over what are often extremely long distances. This breed is of substantial commercial value and is also an excellent avian model to gain empirical insights into the evolution of traits associated with flying performance and spatial orientation. Gazda et al. (2018) investigated the molecular basis of the superior athletic and navigational capabilities of racing pigeons using whole-genome and RNA sequencin

Andrade et al. (2025) studied the mechanisms driving the recent and rapid loss of migratory behaviour in Iberian white storks Ciconia ciconia, a long-lived and previously fully migratory species through the African–Eurasian flyway. The results suggest that through developmental plasticity, traits that are plastic during specific windows of development become fixed during adulthood. Photo by Rodrigo Rodriguez.

In 1935, French veterinarians observed a rabbit with a peculiar gait. Sometimes, when walking or running, the sauteur d'Alfort rabbit would lift its back legs over its head, scrambling along the ground on its forelimbs like a circus performer (see video, above). Now, Müller et al. (2025) have pinned down the genetic mutation that likely causes this breed to have this strange form of locomotion. The gene involved holds clues to how the spinal cord enables walking, hopping,