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Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species

The evolution of elaborate secondary sexual traits (i.e., ornaments) is well‐studied in males but less so in females. Similarity in the appearance of ornaments between males and females supports the view that female ornaments arise as a neutral byproduct of selection on male traits due to genetic co...

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Autores principales: Enbody, Erik D., Lantz, Samantha M., Karubian, Jordan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468133/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28616197
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3000
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author Enbody, Erik D.
Lantz, Samantha M.
Karubian, Jordan
author_facet Enbody, Erik D.
Lantz, Samantha M.
Karubian, Jordan
author_sort Enbody, Erik D.
collection PubMed
description The evolution of elaborate secondary sexual traits (i.e., ornaments) is well‐studied in males but less so in females. Similarity in the appearance of ornaments between males and females supports the view that female ornaments arise as a neutral byproduct of selection on male traits due to genetic correlation between sexes, but recent research suggests an adaptive function of female ornaments in at least some contexts. Information on the degree to which production of ornaments differs between the sexes can shed light on these alternative perspectives. We therefore characterized the structural underpinnings of melanin‐based plumage production in males and females of two closely related passerine bird species (genus Malurus). Importantly, both ornamented and unornamented phenotypes in each sex are present between these two species, providing an opportunity to test the null expectation of equivalent modes of production in male and female ornamented phenotypes. In Malurus alboscapulatus, ornamented females are qualitatively similar to males, but we describe a distinctive ornamented female phenotype that differs from that of males in lacking a blue sheen and in lower feather barbule density. In M. melanocephalus, unornamented males and females are also similar in appearance, and we describe a similarity between unornamented phenotypes of males and females in both color and underlying feather barbule structure and pigment composition. Unornamented male M. melanocephalus can flexibly transition to the ornamented phenotype in weeks, and we found extreme differences in color and feather structure between these two alternative male phenotypes. These results contradict the idea that female ornaments have evolved in this system following a simple switch to male‐like plumage by demonstrating greater complexity in the production of the ornamented phenotype in males than in females.
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spelling pubmed-54681332017-06-14 Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species Enbody, Erik D. Lantz, Samantha M. Karubian, Jordan Ecol Evol Original Research The evolution of elaborate secondary sexual traits (i.e., ornaments) is well‐studied in males but less so in females. Similarity in the appearance of ornaments between males and females supports the view that female ornaments arise as a neutral byproduct of selection on male traits due to genetic correlation between sexes, but recent research suggests an adaptive function of female ornaments in at least some contexts. Information on the degree to which production of ornaments differs between the sexes can shed light on these alternative perspectives. We therefore characterized the structural underpinnings of melanin‐based plumage production in males and females of two closely related passerine bird species (genus Malurus). Importantly, both ornamented and unornamented phenotypes in each sex are present between these two species, providing an opportunity to test the null expectation of equivalent modes of production in male and female ornamented phenotypes. In Malurus alboscapulatus, ornamented females are qualitatively similar to males, but we describe a distinctive ornamented female phenotype that differs from that of males in lacking a blue sheen and in lower feather barbule density. In M. melanocephalus, unornamented males and females are also similar in appearance, and we describe a similarity between unornamented phenotypes of males and females in both color and underlying feather barbule structure and pigment composition. Unornamented male M. melanocephalus can flexibly transition to the ornamented phenotype in weeks, and we found extreme differences in color and feather structure between these two alternative male phenotypes. These results contradict the idea that female ornaments have evolved in this system following a simple switch to male‐like plumage by demonstrating greater complexity in the production of the ornamented phenotype in males than in females. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017-04-25 /pmc/articles/PMC5468133/ /pubmed/28616197 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3000 Text en © 2017 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Enbody, Erik D.
Lantz, Samantha M.
Karubian, Jordan
Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title_full Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title_fullStr Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title_full_unstemmed Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title_short Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
title_sort production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468133/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28616197
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3000
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