
Birds and bats have strange gut microbiomes - dnetesn
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-birds-strange-gut-microbiomesprobably.html
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jiggunjer
I think they're mixing up cause and correlation. My theory is flying animals
evolved shorter guts to save weight, and it's the shorter guts that cause a
lack in biome diversity. The weight of the gut bacteria is irrelevant, it's
just a side-effect of gut reduction which probably constitutes a larger % of
bodyweight.

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wilg
I hope its the opposite.

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samcal
They can fly because of their strange gut microbiomes o_O

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etaioinshrdlu
I'm gonna go apply to YC for Fizzy Lifting Probiotics...

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sand500
Well maybe all you need to do is survive the Avian flu from the bird poop
transplant...

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jajag
So what's the quid pro quo? What do birds and bats loose (apart from weight)
by having reduced gut microbiomes?

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thaumasiotes
Why does there need to be a loss other than weight? Weight loss is a serious
negative effect.

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BurningFrog
If you fly by your own muscles, weight loss is a serious positive effect!

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thaumasiotes
Sure, it's a positive effect on your ability to fly. But if you do anything
other than flying, it will affect those things too. It's _terrible_ for your
ability to recover from injuries.

