Search Here

At some point in their evolution, hummingbirds transformed a taste receptor that's typically used to detect savory or umami flavors into one that's used to taste sweets instead, according to a new study. 

Birds don't possess genes that code for a receptor known as T1R2, which in combination with another gene gives vertebrate a taste for sugar. These genes are present in lizards but birds lost them at some time in their evolution from dinosaurs. 

Other vertebrates utilize the T1R1 receptor to taste savory food but hummingbirds have apparently been able to modify proteins on the surface of the receptors so they react to sugars and sweet tastes instead. 

"The change in the taste receptor was certainly not the only factor or aspect of hummingbird biology that was important [for them to feed on nectar], but it seems like it played an important role," Harvard researcher Maude Baldwin said in the press release.

"This dramatic change in the evolution of a new behavior is a really powerful example of how you can explain evolution on a molecular level," added Harvard cell biology Professor Stephen Liberles.

The study has been published in the journal Science.