Happy Thanksgiving, Your Bird Probably Had A Beard!
It’s not just hipsters out with beards this Thanksgiving season, but also the turkeys you may be eating- if it’s a male! Male turkeys feature a “beard” of modified, hairlike, feathers. This is an example of sexual dimorphism- differences in characteristics between genders. Another example of this in turkeys is size, with males much larger. Curiously, some populations feature a few females with beards too!
More fun Thanksgiving info!
- ROMKids: Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! OR You’re eating a dinosaur!
- NPR: Why A Turkey Is Called A Turkey
Written by @kironcmukherjee. Last update: October 12th, 2014.
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