Natural and sexual selection shape the evolution of colour and conspicuousness in North American wood-warblers (Parulidae)

Autor: Allison F Mistakidis, Stéphanie M. Doucet, Richard K. Simpson
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 130:89-100
ISSN: 1095-8312
0024-4066
DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa015
Popis: Natural and sexual selection drive colour evolution in animals. However, these different selective forces are often studied independently or without considering environmental variation. We evaluated the roles of natural and sexual selection together on colour evolution in 15 sympatric wood-warbler species, while considering the influence of variation in the light environment and visual background. We tested the influence of each selective pressure on male and female coloration and contrast against the background using avian visual models in phylogenetically controlled analyses. We found natural and sexual selection simultaneously driving cryptic and conspicuous plumage in males by acting on different body regions. For example, we found that ground-nesting species had males with conspicuous under-body plumage and cryptic upper-body plumage, showing how natural and sexual selection can drive colour evolution concordantly. We also found interesting relationships with female plumage, such as nest predation positively covarying with female contrast against the background, suggesting a cost to female conspicuousness. Our findings here showcase the complexity of selection on coloration and illustrate the importance of: (1) accounting for environmental variation when assessing how natural and sexual selection drive colour evolution; and (2) testing how multiple selection pressures are shaping colour diversity among species.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje