Lucky mark
Question: Local birds tend to eat little black insects. So how come they void
themselves on me from a great height with a white and annoyingly conspicuous
product?
(continued)
Answer: Your previous correspondents omit one fact, oviparity. The evolution
of insoluble excreta has nothing to do with a “good power-to-weight ratio” or
the ability to “live in ecological niches where water is scarce”.
It evolved because all birds and many reptiles begin their life inside an
egg. Even heavy egg-laying amniotes that live in water as adults, such as
penguins and crocodiles, must survive this early phase without…
