As the only birds with a nocturnal, predatory lifestyle, owls occupy a unique niche in the avian realm. Hunting prey in the dark comes with a number of challenges. Owls have evolved several features that leave them well suited to this task, combining raptorial traits like acute vision and sharp talons with nocturnal adaptations such as enhanced hearing and night vision. In a recent article in Genome Biology and Evolution titled “Genomic evidence for sensorial adaptations to a nocturnal predatory lifestyle in owls,” Pamela Espíndola-Hernández, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide scan to uncover the genetic and selective mechanisms that underlie the owls’ particular adaptations (Espíndola-Hernández et al. 2020). In addition to confirming the important role of the visual and auditory systems, the study, which was overseen by Dr Bart Kempenaers and Dr Jakob Mueller, in collaboration with Dr Martina Carrete at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain, suggests the existence of an unusual adaptation not yet described in birds, shedding new light on the evolutionary history of this nighttime predator. Specifically, the authors propose that selection has acted on epigenetic mechanisms to package the DNA in retinal cells in such a way that it acts as a light-channeling lens to enhance photoreception.

中文翻译：

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亮点：统治夜晚的改编

作为仅有的具有夜间掠食性生活方式的鸟类，猫头鹰在禽鸟领域占据着独特的地位。在黑暗中狩猎猎物面临许多挑战。猫头鹰具有多种特征，使它们非常适合该任务，将急性视力和锋利的爪子等猛禽特征与夜间适应（如增强的听力和夜视力）相结合。在《基因组生物学与进化》的最新文章中马克斯·普朗克鸟类研究所的博士生PamelaEspíndola-Hernández和同事报告了题为“猫头鹰对夜间掠食性生活方式的感觉适应的基因组证据”，并报告了全基因组扫描的结果，以揭示遗传和选择性机制这是猫头鹰特殊适应的基础（Espíndola-Hernándezet al。2020）。除了确认视觉和听觉系统的重要作用外，这项由Bart Kempenaers博士和Jakob Mueller博士与西班牙Pablo de Olavide大学的Martina Carrete博士共同监督的研究表明，存在一种不寻常的现象鸟类中尚未描述的适应性，为这种夜间捕食者的进化史提供了新的视角。特别，