Evolution of prey transport in marine birds: integration of Ethology and Funtional Morphology

Food transport represents a key behavioral process enabling the ingestion of nutrients and water. The behaviors and mechanisms underlying food acquisition are closely linked to sensorimotor actions that emerge from the integration of both morphological heritage and environmental constraints. In accordance with the actual framework proposed in the literature, food transport can be interpreted as a complex sequence of coordinated movements involving cranial and postcranial structures, whose evolution reflects functional trade-offs between efficiency, ecological opportunity, and phylogenetic constraint. Following the broader eco-evolutionary perspective, food transport behaviors should also be understood in the context of environmental variability and resource accessibility, which shape the selective pressures driving behavioral flexibility and innovation. This paper provides an overview of current knowledge on the evolution of behavioral and functional patterns associated with food transport in birds exploiting marine food resources. We compare different modes of food transport across major avian lineages—particularly shorebirds (Charadriiformes), Anatidae, and Laridae—in order to highlight the diversity of feeding strategies and their functional bases in relation to ecological specialization. By integrating behavioral and functional approaches within a phylogenetic framework, we aim to reconstruct the evolutionary scenarios underlying food transport in marine birds. This synthesis allows us to test hypotheses concerning ancestral behavioral patterns, convergence, and the adaptive landscape that has shaped the evolution of food transport mechanisms in marine avifauna.