Adaptive Evolution in the Avian Wing

Savile, D. B. O.

doi:10.2307/2406051

Cited by 107 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Wing shape has been found to vary among bird species in relation to flight style and body size [5,15,22,30,31,62]. By contrast, here phylogenetically informed linear regressions did not find a strong relationship between PC1 and PC2 values and previously evaluated aerodynamic parameters (i.e.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 95%

“…Aerodynamic theory has also yielded an array of predictions regarding the relationship between flight performance and wing shape in birds [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. To date, analyses of the relationship between wing shape and flight style or flight behaviour [5,19,20,23,31 -34] have been based on simple numerical indices derived from linear measurements (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies have investigated how skeletal measures and primary feather length relate to wing shape, flight style and wing kinematics [35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. However, many of these linear measurements have been found to be significantly related to size [15,22,36,37], and capture relatively little information about wing geometry [42]. By contrast, landmark-based morphometric methods assess shape independent of size [42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolution of avian wing shape and previously unrecognized trends in covert feathering

Wang

Clarke

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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ResearchCite this article: Wang X, Clarke JA. 2015 The evolution of avian wing shape and previously unrecognized trends in covert feathering. Proc. R. Soc. Avian wing shape has been related to flight performance, migration, foraging behaviour and display. Historically, linear measurements of the feathered aerofoil and skeletal proportions have been used to describe this shape. While the distribution of covert feathers, layered over the anterior wing, has long been assumed to contribute to aerofoil properties, to our knowledge no previous studies of trends in avian wing shape assessed their variation. Here, these trends are explored using a geometric-morphometric approach with landmarks describing the wing outline as well as the extent of dorsal and ventral covert feathers for 105 avian species. We find that most of the observed variation is explained by phylogeny and ecology but shows only a weak relationship with previously described flight style categories, wing loading and an investigated set of aerodynamic variables. Most of the recovered variation is in greater primary covert feather extent, followed by secondary feather length and the shape of the wing tip. Although often considered a plastic character strongly linked to flight style, the estimated ancestral wing morphology is found to be generally conservative among basal parts of most major avian lineages. The radiation of birds is characterized by successive diversification into largely distinct areas of morphospace. However, aquatic taxa show convergence in feathering despite differences in flight style, and songbirds move into a region of morphospace also occupied by basal taxa but at markedly different body sizes. These results have implications for the proposed inference of flight style in extinct taxa.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolution of avian wing shape and previously unrecognized trends in covert feathering

Wang

Clarke

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…The recent northward expansion with novel migratory routes and habitats has most probably introduced new selection regimes in the species. One trait that could be particularly affected by these selection pressures is wing length, a key character for essential behaviours related to bird flight such as foraging and migration (Savile 1956;Alatalo et al 1984b;Mulvihill & Chandler 1990 Bensch 1992, unpublished data;Sweden: 101.3 + 0.12, Å kesson et al 2007b). Because all these populations winter in tropical Africa, and hence have gradually increasing distances to their wintering sites when breeding further north in Europe, these data suggest that selection on wing length is related to migration distance on a wider geographical scale in great reed warblers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A strong quantitative trait locus for wing length on chromosome 2 in a wild population of great reed warblers

et al. 2010

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Wing length is a key character for essential behaviours related to bird flight such as migration and foraging. In the present study, we initiate the search for the genes underlying wing length in birds by studying a long-distance migrant, the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). In this species wing length is an evolutionary interesting trait with pronounced latitudinal gradient and sex-specific selection regimes in local populations. We performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) scan for wing length in great reed warblers using phenotypic, genotypic, pedigree and linkage map data from our long-term study population in Sweden. We applied the linkage analysis mapping method implemented in GRIDQTL (a new web-based software) and detected a genome-wide significant QTL for wing length on chromosome 2, to our knowledge, the first detected QTL in wild birds. The QTL extended over 25 cM and accounted for a substantial part (37%) of the phenotypic variance of the trait. A genome scan for tarsus length (a bodysize-related trait) did not show any signal, implying that the wing-length QTL on chromosome 2 was not associated with body size. Our results provide a first important step into understanding the genetic architecture of avian wing length, and give opportunities to study the evolutionary dynamics of wing length at the locus level.

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“…Many of the existing Archaeopteryx specimens feature well-preserved feathered wings (Wellnhofer, 2004) that are elliptical in shape and rather similar to the wings of modern birds in appearance (Savile, 1957). The span and surface area of Archaeopteryx' wings relative to its body size are similar to those of modern woodland birds, e.g.…”

Section: Warranted Praxeologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objects prompt authentic scientific activities among learners in a museum programme

Achiam

Simony

Lindow

2016

International Journal of Science Education

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Adaptive Evolution in the Avian Wing

Cited by 107 publications

References 5 publications

The evolution of avian wing shape and previously unrecognized trends in covert feathering

The evolution of avian wing shape and previously unrecognized trends in covert feathering

A strong quantitative trait locus for wing length on chromosome 2 in a wild population of great reed warblers

Objects prompt authentic scientific activities among learners in a museum programme

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