When hummingbirds evolved hovering flight, they lost the muscle enzyme fructose-bisphosphatase 2 through an inactivating mutation. This novel metabolic adaptation fuels hummingbirds’ extremely energy-intensive flight style.

Read more in the Science paper from Katya Osipova and Michael Hiller, with contributions from the Baldwin group: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7050

Photo: Maude Baldwin
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