Habitat structure is linked to the evolution of plumage colour in female, but not male, fairy-wrens
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- 作者：Iliana Medina ; Kaspar Delhey ; Anne Peters ; Kristal E. Cain…
- 关键词：Colour ; Ornamentation ; Female ; Fairy ; wren ; Conspicuousness ; Sexual dimorphism ; Crypsis
- 刊名：BMC Evolutionary Biology
- 出版年：2017
- 出版时间：December 2017
- 年：2017
- 卷：17
- 期：1
- 全文大小：1097KB
- 刊物主题：Evolutionary Biology; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/ Biogeography; Entomology; Genetics and Population Dynamics; Life Sciences, general;
- 出版者：BioMed Central
- ISSN：1471-2148
- 卷排序：17
文摘
BackgroundBoth natural and sexual selection may drive the evolution of plumage colouration in birds. This can lead to great variation in plumage not only across species, but also between sexes within species. Australasian fairy-wrens are famous for their brightly coloured males, which exhibit colours ranging from bright blue to red and black. Female plumage in fairy wrens (and in general) has been rarely studied, but it can also be highly variable, including both bright and cryptic plumages. We use a comparative framework to explore the basis for this variation, and test the possibility that female fairy-wrens experience selection for cryptic plumage when they occupy more exposed habitats that offer little concealment from predators. We use spectral measurements of plumage for species and subspecies of Australasian fairy-wrens.