Does natural selection brought about by infectious diseases influence the process of speciation in seabirds and other birds?

Abstract

This note presents a hypothesis which cannot be tested as yet, because the necessary data are not available. However, the author hopes that this publication will add impetus to research on seabirds and marine Pinnipeds, as well as to other fields, such as the study of bird song. Diseases cause appreciable mortality among most vertebrates. The infectious diseases of seabirds and marine pinnipeds, by analogy to Man, might be transmitted by contact with a carrier, arthropod vectors, sexual intercourse, droplet infection, direct physical contact or by contaminated food and water. The risk of transmission of an infectious disease is undoubtedly greatest at the breeding colony, where large numbers of these animals are brought into close proximity. Natural selection ought to favour those animals which minimise the risk of contracting a disease which might be fatal to them or to their offspring.