tags: bpr3.org/?p=52 , Seychelles magpie-robin , Copsychus sechellarum , behavioral ecology , conservation biology , endangered species , population dynamics , ornithology , birds Seychelles magpie-robin, Copsychus sechellarum . Image: Tony Randell (Wikipedia) [ larger view ]. Every once in awhile, I read a paper that surprises me. Today, I read one of those papers, and it surprised me because it analyzes a phenomenon that is so obvious that I wonder why no one ever thought of studying it in a systematic and rigorous way before. I am referring to a paper that was just published by a team of researchers who found that particular behaviors can damage and even reverse the recovery of endangered species under certain circumstances. In this situation, the team documented the negative effects that can occur when individuals of a social species engage in frequent battles for limited reproductive opportunities. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... ...