Here’s how high-speed diving kingfishers may avoid concussions

Genetic tweaks in kingfishers might help cushion the blow when the diving birds plunge beak first into the water to catch fish.

Analysis of the genetic instruction book of some diving kingfishers identified changes in genes related to brain function as well as retina and blood vessel development, which might protect against damage during dives, researchers report October 24 in Communications Biology. The results suggest the different species of diving kingfishers may have adapted to survive their dives unscathed in some of the same ways, but it’s still unclear how the…